SRW: Remnant
by GaeaChronos
Summary: After stopping a robbery by Roman Torchwick, Ruby Rose finds herself the leader of a team of robot pilots at Beacon Training Institute. Unbeknownst to her, just her very presence there triggered a series of events that will change Remnant's history...
1. chapter 1

Hey, guys! I'm GaeaChronos and this is gonna be my first fanfic. It is basically a Super Robot Taisen AU for RWBY, in which the characters pilot mechs (which may or may not be based on real mechs from other series) instead of using transformable weapons (although said mechs might use the weapons their pilots used, just not all of them).

Now, this first chapter will just be a simple introduction to the story and some of its elements.

I will also be mentioning which anime mech each of the units the characters will be piloting are based on, such as Ruby's unit being inspired by the ARX-7 Arbalest from Full Metal Panic, and Adam's unit being (somehow obviously) the ASW G-29 Gundam Astaroth Origin from Gundam IBO Gekko. And with that said, let's talk about my AU.

Dust - The SDC still exists here, they still use dust for weaponry and fuel. And before any of you ask, Jacques will NOT be a human - sized pile of walking toxic waste, (even though I totally saw what he would be like in V4 coming, and his actions didn't surprise me at all) he will actually be like a warship's captain from SRW, in charge of his own ship to aid the characters.

Aura - It still exists here, it works kind of like a fingerprint identification for custom units, and also for unlocking the next thing I will be talking about.

Semblances - Semblances will be replaced by the Semblance System, a system that is unlocked by the pilot's aura. Each unit has a unique version of the Semblance System, depending on the pilot. It can range from increased speed to a total transformation. Mass - produced units however, will not be possessing the system, only exclusive to commanding or custom units, due to production costs.

Classification of mechs - Mechs will be classified as one of the following:

Real Robots - Mechs that are somewhat grounded by some sort of limitation and follows what is usually logical for a mech ( I.e. they usually use ammunition in weaponry, and if they have some sort of finisher, it usually has some kind if logical catch, like if it's some kind of large beam cannon, it takes time to prep it for use, and takes out a large chunk of energy after use, or something like that).

Super Robots - Mechs that have some sort of unique ability that makes it powerful, such as regeneration, some kind of unreal energy source, or even a big dumb sword that just pops out of nowhere.

Grimm - The Grimm here will be mechs used by Salem's faction. They are operated by AI created by Salem herself, due to her belief that it is easier for a machine to obey commands without question.

Salem - A hundred - thousand - year - old entity who has been at war with humanity ever since it first appeared on Remnant. It is usually portrayed as female, but it has no definite shape, and very little is known about its origins.

SRW elements - There won't really be a lot of similarities to the franchise in terms of elements, as I haven't played a whole lot of SRW, just the GBA games specifically OG and J, and the rest I know of are playthroughs of OGMD and V, as they are the only ones in English that I know of.

A fair bit of a warning, there WILL be OCs, and they will play a big role in the story, they WILL be involved with the main characters, to the point of pursuing a romantic relationship with one another. If that's not your cup of tea, or you just don't like fics that focus on OCs despite there being main characters, I completely understand if this throws you off and I would suggest to turn back now if you don't like that.

Another thing, there WILL be White rose in this fic. It's one of my most favorite pairs next to Lancaster ( which strangely I only ship in canon). I'll try not to let it get in the way of the story too much. Speaking of pairs, there will also be a bit of Arkos and Renora, so that's pretty much expected, especially Renora. Sorry Bumblebee/by fans, I don't plan to include it in this fic. Make no mistake, I love Bumblebee/by, but it won't happen here. I do have a story in the making that has it, it's just not quite there yet.

Also, I'm not sure how regularly I'll update, I already set up major plot points but I haven't technically started writing this, I took notes on how things will go, but I'm basically making things up as I go. It also doesn't help that I'm only writing via mobile, as I don't own a PC.

So I guess that's about it for introductions to my AU. Next chapter will be the real first chapter, I'll be updating info when new elements, such as Ruby's eyes, have made an appearance in the story. I will also be including a robot's information at the end of the chapter it's been introduced.

Aaaand, that's about it! I'll try to get the first chapter out by this week, so wait for that.

GaeaChronos is out! Peace!


	2. Chapter 1 : Ruby Rose

Hey guys, it's GaeaChronos! This will be the first chapter for Super Robot Wars : Remnant! Sorry about the whole introduction as a first chapter thing, if that bugged you. Any other additional information will be added to the end of every chapter it was introduced from now on, so no worries about that! Anyways, on with the story before I ramble too much!! Let's-a-go!!

 **Chapter 1**

 **10** **:07 PM, Vale Docks**

It was nighttime in Vale. Seven minutes past curfew. People were now in their homes, peacefully sleeping. The sidewalks were empty, save for a few on their way home.

However, there are some who take advantage of the empty streets.

In a far - off area in the Vale Docks, away from prying eyes, several black and red mechs are guarding what appears to be a large ship, and more of those black mechs are loading large crates onto said ship, with others examining the other crates' contents before loading them.

"Come on, hurry it up! We don't want the people noticing their precious cargo being stolen now, would we?" A ginger - haired man in a bowler hat yelled through the screen inside the mechs' cockpits.

"We have a schedule to keep, and we're not even halfway there! My boss does not like late deliveries, so HURRY UP!!!"

The mechs soon sped up their work. If they weren't in such a rush, they might have noticed a blur of red speed past them and into one of the open crates.

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

A hooded figure was rushing home, almost seeming desperate. They were late. Very late. They were rushing through the docks when their scroll suddenly vibrated. Skidding to a stop, the figure decided it was a good time to catch their breath. They wanted to get home fast, but they didn't want to push themselves too far. Checking their scroll, they read a notice written on its screen:

"WARNING!!! THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME PROTOTYPE MECHS IN DANGER OF BEING STOLEN!!! DISTANCE : 500m TO YOUR LEFT!!!"

The screen then changed, revealing a map, a path highlighting the direction the notice told them.

Sighing, the figure turned to their left and followed the path showed to them.

They were speeding past the docks when they suddenly heard large footsteps. Stopping and hiding behind one of the crates, they took a peek and saw a black and red mech carrying what appears to be a large crate with Atlas's emblem on it.

Hmmm..., the figure thought. Let's see now, Atlas crates, black and red mechs instead of black and white, and the fact that these mechs look suspiciously look like the scraps Yang brought me a few weeks back. Yup, they're stealing Atlas weaponry. I can't seem to send Rose-y here without getting noticed, so, Plan B, I guess.

Sneaking past a few mechs, and almost getting caught two to three times, they managed to find one crate that was opened, and snuck past the mech that went on to examine the next crate.

When the hooded figure got inside, they went to where they would be least visible, and turned on their scroll's light and flashed at the crate's contents, almost dropping their scroll in awe at what they saw.

"Wo~w!" The figure almost screamed out at the sight before them. In front of them was the latest AK -130 model, the latest in the line of Atlas mass - produced mechs.

They pulled their hood down to reveal a girl with short, red - tipped hair, wide sparkling silver eyes, and a big, open - mouthed smile across her face.

"Oh, my god, I'm right in front of an AK-130!!" She screamed out excitedly, as if meeting her idol in person for the first time.

" I never thought I would see a prototype in person, but here I am now!!! Granted, I knew I would get my hands on this baby someday, but I didn't think I would see one so soon, and before it becomes available to the public, at that!! Although, I don't think this counts as technically this is kinda illegal, but the experience is real, baby!! And to think that- "

"RUBY!!" A voice cried out from her scroll, cutting off the girl's rambling.

"I understand your enthusiasm, but PLEASE be aware that we're NOT supposed to be spotted by the guards, or all of that sneaking would be for nothing. So could we please get back to the task at hand?"

The girl, now known as Ruby, awkwardly scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, uhh... Right... Sorry, Penny." She apologized. She held the scroll to her face, revealing the face of a ginger - haired girl in the device's screen, a look of disapproval on her face, but later softened at her apology.

"Apology accepted, Ruby. Now going back to the task at hand, there should be a hatch near that unit's chest."

Ruby took a few steps closer to the unit and began searching for the hatch Penny told her about. She located it a few seconds later and tried to open it, only to run into a problem

"Um, Penny? A little help? The entrance to the cockpit is locked."

"Well, that is to be expected. What kind of lock is it?" Penny asked.

Ruby took a closer look at the hatch, finding a keypad. "Okay, found it. Looks like some kind of password lock. Think you can do something about it?" She asked.

"That sounds simple enough. Just hold the screen in front of the keypad and I'll see what I can do."

Following Penny's directions, Ruby held her scroll in front of the keypad with the screen facing it. A loading icon appeared on the screen for a few seconds before changing into a check, the light above the keypad turning green, unlocking the hatch.

"Done! You can now enter the unit, Ruby!" Penny said cheerfully.

Nodding in confirmation, Ruby opened the hatch and entered the cockpit before closing the hatch again.

Turning on her scroll's flashlight, Ruby examined the interior of the cockpit, finding a slot for a scroll.

"Alright, Penny, you're up! " She exclaimed before plugging the device in, the screen turning on for a few seconds before turning off.

There were a few seconds of silence, before the screens in the cockpit lit up, signifying the unit starting up. The screen on the center revealed Penny, with a smile on her face.

"Salutations, friend Ruby! The start - up was a success!" She exclaimed gleefully.

"Nice! Are there any issues regarding the controls?" Ruby asked, clearly excited.

"There are none, thank you for asking!" Penny answered back.

"And weapons...?" She asked, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Hmm... Let's see..." Penny trailed off, opening a bunch of windows before stopping on one, her face lighting up. "Oh! Each of them are by default armed with head and forearm vulcans, there's an anti - armor knife hidden in the thigh compartment, and a rail gun loaded with 10 ammunition stored away on its shoulder!"

If Ruby was excited before, she was about to explode now.

"It has all of them?!" She asked ecstatically.

Penny answered the question with an enthusiastic nod.

"Yes. It is combat ready!"

Ruby did nothing to hold back her excited squeal, all the while flailing here and there, yet somehow miraculously avoiding hitting anything in the cockpit.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!!" Ruby exclaimed happily, gripping the controls, one hand in a fist, pumping in the air.

"Wait!" Penny cried out.

"Aww, whyy?! Everything's set up now, isn't it?!" Ruby asked, clearly bummed at Penny stopping her.

"Yes. But aren't you forgetting something, Ruby?"

"Hmm... Oh, right! I'll need to take another rail gun from another unit! Each only have ten ammo, so good call, Penny!"

"Well, yes, that's true, but..."

"Oh, right, of course! A rail gun would weigh too much! I'll just take the cartridges from the other units! That'll weigh a lot less, and I can carry more than one! Thanks, Penny!"

"Yes, but- "

"Wait! Do you think I can carry more than one knife, too? That's always a good thing in case I lose the one it has- "

"RUBY!!! LET ME FINISH!!!" Penny screamed, her angry face taking up the entirety of the center screen, making Ruby flinch and shrink in on herself. "Sorry." Ruby squeaked out.

"I meant that I still need your confirmation to send the Semblance System's program to this unit' OS. Only you know your own Semblance's password. So are we going to use it?" Penny asked, hands on her hips.

Ruby laughed nervously, embarrassed she let her excitement get the better of her. Again.

"Right... Set it up, Penny."

"Very well. Although, all that you said will be helpful in what we are about to do, so..." Penny trailed off, working on a few windows before showing one with a keypad to Ruby. "Go ahead. Why not?" She finished with a smile.

Ruby, perking up at Penny's words, typed away on the keypad. After pressing enter, the screen then changed to a loading screen. It displayed this for a few seconds before changing its layout, with the text, 'WELCOME, RUBY' written across the center screen.

"Alright, Ruby, NOW we can do what you want!" Penny said.

"Yeah! Although, I am rather surprised no one noticed us despite the fuss we made, and that nobody seems to be picking up this crate yet."

"Of course. We are armed with very thick Plot Armor!"

"... Plot what now...?"

"We're wasting time, Ruby! Go, go, go!!!" Penny exclaimed, cutting Ruby off.

"Guh... Fine. But I'm not dropping this conversation." Ruby said, while getting the unit to take some supplies from an adjacent unit.

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

Roman seemed to be having a good day. The stealing of the new AK series mechs seemed to be going smoothly. The goons he hired for the task seemed to be competent enough. Nothing seemed to be going wrong with anything.

But after he heard an explosion, he had a feeling that the day was going to be not so good.

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

"Ruby, did you really have to blow up the unit next to us?!" Penny asked, hands covering her head, as if protecting herself from debris.

"Duh!" Ruby answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How else would we be able to catch their attention?!" She continued, jumping past crate to crate, shooting down two enemy mechs along the way.

"Ruby, do you even have enough money to pay for damages to a unit, let alone a prototype?! Let alone a DESTROYED prototype?!" Penny answered back.

That question caused Ruby to halt in her tracks, a nervous look on her face.

"Uhh... We'll cross that bridge when we get there...?"

Penny sighed at Ruby's response.

"You really need to stop that mindset, you know? It's going to save your life one day if you think about your actions first. Oh, and fire behind you. 50 degrees to your left." Penny instructed, with Ruby following, shooting down another mech.

"I'm trying, Penny. I really am. I'm doing my best, but this type of situation doesn't allow much room for thinking." Ruby answered, Slicing a mech in half with the knife.

"Just... Be careful, Ruby. I worry that, sometimes, your recklessness will get you killed one day. Then what would I tell Yang?" Penny asked, concern clear in her voice.

Ruby immediately felt bad for making Penny worry about her. Her ideas were always rather reckless, often putting herself and others in danger. And by the time she realizes, it was always too late. Her actions often get people involved. And Penny was right. She might get herself killed like this. If not her, then someone else, especially with the way she handles things.

"You're right. But right now, it's past curfew. And any remaining people might have run off after hearing that explosion, so I'm sure it's fine." Ruby reassured, shooting down three more enemies before stopping to reload. "But yeah, I'll try turn it down a bit." She finished, placing the new cartridge.

Penny nodded in acceptance at Ruby's answer. "Thank you. That's all I could ask for." Before Penny could finish what she was saying, a red WARNING sign flashed across the right screen.

"Ruby, GET DOWN!!" She exclaimed in panic.

Ruby managed to evade the round fired at her, but not fast enough. The right arm of the unit was hit, the armor piece and frame getting singed, nearly severing the forearm.

"Whoa! That was close!" Ruby exclaimed. "A little more and my cockpit would've been toast!"

"Ruby, I am detecting an energy signature 200 meters behind us, coming from the large vessel!" Penny exclaimed, panic and fear evident in her voice.

Ruby immediately took cover behind one crate, head slightly peeking out to look.

It was an older AK series model, but it was heavily modified. It had custom armor plating, a different head unit appearing to have a commander's horn, and its right arm was completely new, with a large hook attached to the forearm. It also carried a shotgun, which was likely where that round came from. There was a crater where it was standing, probably from jumping off the ship.

"Well, what do we have here?" The pilot of the mech asked, with his unit gesturing towards Ruby's unit. "Some do - gooder trying to play hero?"

"Ruby, if we just hide here, they'll get us!" Penny exclaimed, clearly afraid at the situation.

"But if we do show ourselves, we'll just get shot down!" Ruby answered back.

"We'll get shot down anyway if we don't do any thing!"

Before they could continue, another round was fired at Ruby's direction, this time hitting the crate it was hiding behind, destroying it, with the debris hitting Ruby's unit, sending it tumbling back.

"Aaaghh!!" Ruby screamed out, getting shaken around in the cockpit.

"RUBY!!!" Penny cried out.

"Guh... I'm fine, I'm fine! Just a scratch!" Ruby said, shaking her head, recovering from the shock. "Mind if we talk later? This guy doesn't seem too keen on small talk." She continued, typing a few buttons, a few commands showing up on the screen, eventually stopping on a symbol of a burning rose.

Penny's eyes widened, understanding what Ruby was doing. "I'll help with preparations!" She declared, starting to open some windows.

"Counting on it!" Ruby said, all the while dodging more rounds.

"Okay, you're fast. I admit that." The pilot said. "But are you fast enough..." He trailed off, raising the other hand, pointing the hook in Ruby's direction. "... To dodge this?!" And with that, the hook was launched towards Ruby with amazing speed.

Ruby managed to run away from it, only to be disappointed at the sight of the hook following her, a set of thrusters changing its direction, attached to a wire that leads to her opponent's forearm where it came from.

Of course, Ruby thought with irritation. It just had to be that kind of weapon. Just great.

This continued for a few moments, with the hook following Ruby around trying to outrun it, and while dodging more rounds fired at her.

Jeez, she thought. If this keeps up, I'll run out of fuel. But if I stop, either I'll get shot or I'll get hooked THEN get shot. Either way, things don't look good.

Her thoughts were, however, cut off by Penny before she could complain more.

"All set, Ruby! Ready when you are!"

Seeing an opportunity to hide, she took cover behind several crates, getting her unit ready.

"Alright Penny!" Ruby declared.

"Dust Engine, Full Drive!" Penny exclaimed, the hum of the machine's engine increasing in volume, the rose on the screen starting to glow. The optics showing their blue glow behind the cracked visor.

"Aura Field, Maximum Output!!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling a lever, then the unit was enveloped in a transparent red glow, the hook bouncing off the deployed field harmlessly.

"Emission slits, Open!" Penny exclaimed, several vents opening up on the unit's back, calves, shoulders, and forearms. "Ruby, requesting authorization!"

"Authorization Code : Red Like Roses!"

"Semblance System, Start Up!!" Both girls declared, bright red light pouring out from the opened vents, the units optics changing from blue to red.

"AK - 130, DASH!!!" Ruby exclaimed once more, her eyes starting to gain a red ring around the irises. With that final declaration, more light burst from the unit, dashing towards the enemy, leaving behind a trail of transparent red energy in the shape of rose petals.

"Wh-" before the pilot could finish, he was sent flying by a full on kick from Ruby's unit, sending it flying, but not before Ruby stomped on the wire and cut into it with the knife, severing it.

But Ruby wasn't done yet, storing the firearm away, she took out a second knife, dashed towards her enemy. Although 'dash' was putting it lightly, more like teleported to it in a cloud of rose petals, and began to slash away at the enemy's armor, chipping at it with such speed it wouldn't matter how little damage one slash would do, as each knife's hits came in so fast it became a matter of quantity over quality. This kept going until a piece of its forearm guard came off. Then a knee pad. Then a shin guard. Then a shoulder pad. And then its chest plate, exposing the inner frame.

Hitting her jackpot, Ruby then sent him flying with another kick, quickly deploying the rail gun again and dashing towards the enemy at the same speed. Placing the barrel of the gun at the exposed frame of the chest, she opened fire until her opponent was defeated.

Or at least, that's how she planned it to be.

The moment she dashed towards the enemy for the finisher, her unit began to slow and power down. She was out of thrust!

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, not now, not noooooww!!" Not only was she out of thrust, she also jumped too high. Now she's falling. Face first. Into the ground.

"OOF!!" Her unit fell on the ground with a crash, several armor plates coming off.

"Oww... " Ruby groaned in pain inside the cockpit. "And it was so close, too..."

"Are you alright, Ruby?" A concerned Penny asked. "It seems you used up all the thrust."

"Ugh... Yeah, I can see that..." Ruby replied, still dazed.

"Although," Penny continued. " this was to be expected. This unit was only meant to be delivered, so of course it wouldn't have much fuel for its thrusters."

Ruby groaned. "Now you tell me! Why didn't you tell me about it when I basically have a Semblance that centers on thrust?"

"We didn't have much time for talking while taking cover. Also, you technically didn't ask me about it, so I thought you would know."

"Ruby?"

Ruby then proceeded to slam her head against the controls, startling Penny.

"Of course." Slam. "Why." Slam. "Didn't I." Slam. "Seriously." Slam. "Consider." Slam. "That." Slam. "Possibility!!!" She ended, emphasizing the last few syllables with a slam.

"Um, Ruby? As much as I would like to watch you give yourself a concussion, which I don't, we still have a situation at hand..."

Ruby looked up to see the unit she was fighting getting up, though rather shakily. Most of its large armor was gone, exposing a large portion of its inner frame, some parts already damaged.

"Alright," the pilot said shakily. " that was a pretty neat trick. And we can safely say this has been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this," he pointed the shotgun at Ruby's damaged unit, somehow managing to hold on to it after all that. " is where we part ways."

But, just as he was gonna pull the trigger, he was cut off by a sudden burst of flames.

A tower of flames suddenly started blazing, and in the center was a silhouette that looked like in the process of slamming its fists together.

"Bumblebee, BURST!!!" The moment its fists met, the tower's flames dispersed into sparks in the air, revealing a black and gold mech with burning red optics and 'hair' made of flames coming from its head.

The enemy pilot groaned. "Not another one." He then looked at the remaining goons. "Hey, can someone please do something about - Hey! Where are you all going?!" He shouted at the goons, who were now fleeing from the golden mech.

"Well, they were worth every cent." He muttered sarcastically.

The golden unit then charged towards him, fists and 'hair' ablaze. He raised his Aura field, bracing himself for impact, closing his eyes. Only to open them again when the impact never came. The golden mech was now engaged in combat with a crimson mech wielding twin blades as weapons. He sighed in relief and made his way to back to the ship when his unit's leg was destroyed by a round from a rail gun. He turned around to see the AK - 130 from before, standing shakily, pointing its weapon at him.

He gave a sigh. "Can't be helped, then." He pulled a lever, disengaging his unit from its body. "Well, this operation was a bust." The detached core then proceeded to transform into a small jet and took off.

"Ah - Hey, wait!" Ruby cried out.

"Ruby, leave it!" Penny cried out. "We still need to worry about that vessel!"

"R-right!" Ruby replied, just when she looked up to see the crates getting lifted into the air and placed back to where they should be by some supernatural force.

"What? How in the..." She looked around to find a strange mech with its arms raised, a purple glow covering its hands. She then took a closer look at the levitating crates, spotting the same glow enveloping them.

The crimson mech, seeing the situation, raised its arms, the blades suddenly heating up. Thinking of it as another attack, its opponent took a defensive stance. Suddenly, the blades couldn't take any more heat, and exploded.

Black smoke covered the golden mech's surroundings, rendering its cameras temporarily useless. When the smoke cleared, its opponent was nowhere to be seen.

The golden mech's pilot clicked its tongue in annoyance, before walking towards Ruby's damaged unit, which was now empty with the cockpit open, spotted Ruby a few meters away, attempting to sneak off.

"Ruby..." The pilot growled out, unit's arms crossed.

Ruby froze mid - step upon hearing her name. Slowly, she turned around, facing the unit with a nervous look on her face."Ohh... Hey, Yang... Whatcha' doin' here...?"

The mech just shook its head, clearly unimpressed. "You are in so much trouble."

\- LINE BREAK -

 **11 : 43 PM, Rose - Xiao Long Household, Ruby's Bedroom**

"Where to even begin..." Taiyang said in anger, arms crossed. "First, you snuck off without informing any of us, then you stay out past curfew, then illegally pilot experimental Atlas tech, then DESTROY said tech, THEN nearly get yourself killed fighting a criminal, what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

He said this all without raising his voice, but not making it any less terrifying. Ruby shivered in fear.

"Well, he was stealing the tech you mentioned, so I uhh... had to do something about it."

"Then why didn't you just inform the police? And more importantly, how did you even know about the them stealing those machines? I highly doubt it was just coincidence."

"I... Uh... May or may not have used Penny...?" She answered nervously.

Taiyang gave a heavy sigh. "Well, that explains a lot." He always knew his daughter was smart, but she somehow always manages to catch him off guard, such as creating an AI to warn oncoming danger, which somehow also has the ability to open the most complex locks. It always baffled him how things escalated so quickly when it involved his daughters.

"Uh, hey Dad! There are some people here looking for Ruby!" Yang called from the living room.

"Oh, boy. Must be Atlas military." Taiyang sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. "Come on, Ruby. Might as well get this over with."

They both made their way downstairs. Upon reaching, they were surprised to see two people sitting on their couch, one blonde woman and the other a gray haired man. Sitting on the chair to the side was Yang, confusion evident on her face. Taiyang's eyes widened upon realizing who they were.

"Glynda! Professor Ozpin!" He walked to them, shaking their hands.

"Hello, Taiyang." Glynda greeted.

"Yes, it has been a while, Taiyang." Ozpin greeted with a smile.

"What brings you two here this time of night?" Taiyang asked.

"Well, if you must know," Glynda began, "it's about your daughter Ms. Rose here, and her actions this evening." She finished, looking at Ruby with a stern expression on her face, causing the younger girl to cower.

"Her actions have not only put herself in danger, but caused severe damage to experimental Atlas weaponry, and also destroyed one of them. She also created a large crater in the docks."

"Hey! I didn't make that crater, they did!" Ruby objected. She was about to follow up when a glare from Glynda silenced her.

"Now, Glynda," Ozpin chimed in, "there's no need to frighten the girl. Please remember that it was because of her holding them off you were able to make it there in time." He finished.

"Wait..." Ruby trailed off. "You were the one piloting the mech making the crates levitate!" She exclaimed, pointing at Glynda.

"Yes, that was me." Glynda confirmed, adjusting her glasses.

"Whoa, so your Semblance is Telekinesis, I guess?"

"Let's not get off topic." Taiyang cut in. "So, is Ruby in trouble?" He asked nervously.

"That remains to be seen." Ozpin answered, turning to Ruby. "Tell me, Ms. Rose, how many enemy units do you think you've taken down at the docks?"

"Um, I don't know, around eight to ten, I think?" Ruby answered uncertainly.

"Sixteen." Ozpin corrected. "You took down sixteen enemy mechs with a rail gun and two knives."

"Huh? I'm sure I took down less than that."

"Ah, yes," Ozpin said, " of course. Let me explain. Three units were destroyed when you blew up the other AK - 130, five were shot down, one was taken down with your knife. Three were shut down by the wave of energy from activation of your Semblance, two more were sliced apart during your barrage, and two were destroyed by Torchwick's unit when it crashed on the ground from your attack. In total, sixteen, seventeen if you count Torchwick's unit." He finished.

"Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Glynda answered, "the criminal you've fought against was Roman Torchwick, a well - known Dust thief. He is also known to be quite elusive, fleeing the crime scene before the police could even get there."

"Very few have caught Torchwick in the middle of the act," Ozpin said, continuing where Glynda left off, "and only a handful were able to stop him. Now," he continued, looking at Ruby, "it appears another name has been added to that list." He finished, making the eyes of both Xiao Longs widen.

"Um, actually," Ruby replied, "I wasn't alone. Yang kinda came in at the last minute and saved me."

"Yes, we are very much aware of that." Glynda said. "But, you are the subject of interest here, not your sister. Yes, she did make it to the scene in time before things could worsen, but you were the one who lessened their numbers AND delivered quite substantial damage to Torchwick's unit. Let's not even forget that you managed to start up that unit, that is a feat in it of itself."

"Ms. Rose," Ozpin cut in, "Atlas makes sure that their weapons are protected by very strong firewalls, so that they could not be easily hacked. Each unit could only be used by the pilot it would be assigned to. So would you please, if you don't mind, tell us how you were able to pilot one?" He finished, making Ruby tense at the last question.

"Actually, Professor," Taiyang cut in, "Ruby here is a pretty good hacker. She usually spends a lot of time on her computer or scroll. One time, she hacked Yang's computer and shared videos of her singing in the shower online."

"So that was YOU?!" Yang finally spoke up. "That was so embarrassing! Why would you do that?!" She shouted at Ruby.

"Well," Ruby shrugged, "I think the better question would be why would you have that in your files?" She replied, all while shooting a grateful look at her father, who nodded. She didn't want to tell anyone else about Penny. For now, at least.

"That reason is for me to know and for you to not even be aware of!" Yang exclaimed.

Any further shouting was cut off by Taiyang clearing his throat.

"Anyway," he began, "Ruby here hacking her way into something isn't really news to any of us. Give her enough time and she could make it past Atlas's firewalls. She's just that good." He finished, a hint of pride in his voice.

Ozpin nodded in acceptance. Glynda, however, wasn't convinced, but a raise of Ozpin's hand cut her off before she could say anything.

"I must say," Ozpin began, "your skills are quite impressive, Ms. Rose. But, the situation is still that. You managed to hack into Atlas weaponry, damaged two units, and hacked into one, piloting it. General Ironwood will not take this lightly. You will be questioned for your actions, and a simple, 'I'm just that good,' will not cover it."

"So, I am in trouble, after all?" Ruby concluded, sadness clear in her voice.

"Actually," Ozpin answered, "we came here to vouch for you. The General and I are good friends. If I explain to him, he would drop any possible charges. We'll just tell him you were one of the scholars recently accepted into Beacon, and you were accepted for your programming and hacking skills."

"But," Ruby cut in, "I'm not a scholar. I still have two years left at Signal."

"Well then," Ozpin answered, "let's fix that problem, shall we?" He finished with a smile.

\- LINE BREAK -

 **2 : 23 AM, Rose - Xiao Long Household, Ruby's Bedroom**

Ruby couldn't sleep. How could she? She was still processing the events that just transpired.

First, her father grounded her for her actions, no technology for a month. Then, the Headmaster of Beacon himself came to their home, and interrogated them on what happened. They almost knew about Penny's existence, if it wasn't for her father covering her.

Then, the weirdest thing happened. Instead of a reprimand, Ozpin actually offered her a scholarship at Beacon Training Institute. She just couldn't find the connection. How did beating up a bunch of goons go all the way to a scholarship?

Needless to say, Taiyang was ecstatic about the offer and agreed for her. While Yang gave Ruby the biggest Bear Hug she she could give, saying how proud she was.

As for Ruby, she just sat there, slack-jawed. She couldn't process what was happening at the time, but she could vaguely recall her father saying she was still grounded, but only for a week, and she keeps her scroll.

Well, she thought. At least I'm not in much trouble as before.

"Is something wrong, Ruby?" Penny asked from her scroll. "You look troubled."

Ruby smiled at the handheld device on her nightstand. It always scared her how life-like Penny could be. But sometimes, that was just the comfort she sought, a friend who worries for her.

"Just thinking that Dad was right, after all. Things really do escalate rather quickly when involving me and Yang."

"But, it things worked out in the end, right?" Penny replied with a smile.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, "I guess they did."

"Of course," the virtual girl agreed, "I told you before we have thick Plot Armor!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Ruby began, "what did you mean by-"

"Ruby, GO TO SLEEP!!!" Yang shouted from the other room.

"Guh... This isn't over, Penny." She threatened, getting to a more comfortable position.

"Good night, Ruby." Penny smiled innocently.

 **\- END OF CHAPTER ONE -**

\- INTERLUDE-

\- UNIT STATS-

Unit Name : AK - 130

HP : 3600

EN : 150

Movement : 6

Mobility : 180

Armor : 1200

Weapons:

-Vulcans - short-range, post-movement, power - 1200, range - 1 - 3, 0 EN, ammo - 15

-Anti - armor knife - short-range, post-movement, power - 1800, range - 1, 0 EN

-Rail gun - mid to long range, special, power - 2500, range 2 - 7, 0 EN, ammo - 10

Inspiration : The Atlesian Knight from RWBY, and the Reginlaze from Gundam IBO Season 2

Unit Name : Bumblebee

HP : 4200

EN : 200

Movement: 7

Mobility: 200

Armor: 1800

Weapons:

\- Vulcanus Blow - short-range, post-movement, power - 1800, range - 1 - 3, 0 EN

\- Apollo Shot - short to mid range, post-movement, power - 2200, range - 1 - 5, 15 EN

\- Agni Raid - short-range, post-movement, power - 2500, range - 1, 25 EN

\- Sol Finish - short-range, post-movement, power - 3000, range - 1, 40 EN

Inspiration: Coustwell Brachium from SRW J and OGMD (Fave Banpresto Original!!) and the Denial Gundam from Gundam Build Fighters Try

\- END OF INTERLUDE-

Aaaand, that's about it!! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!! I apologize if my writing confuses you, I'm still relatively new to the whole writing thing. If you have any suggestions for improvement, feel free to do so in your review! And also, the next few chapters won't come out as frequently, I have a few school projects in need of doing (which I should be doing right now) so I guess I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks, by then I hope the next chapter will be done. And one more thing, should I also include Pilot Stats in the Interlude? Such as the Spirit Commands each character uses. Tell me if you would like that. So, I guess that's that!

GaeaChronos is out! Peace!


	3. Chapter 2 : Cleanups and Meetups

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here.** **No overly hyper intro today, going through a LOT of personal stuff lately. Not gonna go into too much detail, but I will say that there was a lot of dead family members by the end of 2017, and around New Year, as well. That's kinda why I've been inactive lately.** **But anyway, I'll just get on with the chapter, cause I've been holding this off for so long.**

 **Also, I'm _preeeetty_ sure I won't be putting the stats by the end of the chapter anymore, I just realized how irrelevant that was to the plot and it was kinda dumb.**

 **Chapter 2 : Cleanups and Meetups**

 **6:30 AM, Vale Docks**

Only a few hours have passed since the incident at the docks, yet Ruby is on her way to the docks inside a mech once again. Although, it was not for battle.

Due to the amount of collateral damage caused from her battle, she was tasked to help clean up the debris scattered all over the docks.

Initially, she was going to complain, but remembered that Glynda was the one she was talking to.

She was _really_ terrified of the stern blonde.

Speaking of blondes...

"Ugh, this is the _worst_!!" Yang Xiao Long complained from inside Bumblebee, her personal mech. She was also tasked by Glynda to help her sister. Her mech was the same as it appeared the previous night, albeit with lilac optics.

"You _did_ kind of burn down a few warehouses." Ruby pointed out from her mech. It wasn't the AK-130 she piloted before, as it was taken back for repairs, it was her own personal one, the AK-100 Rosepetal Custom, or 'Rosey' for short. It was rather simplistic, being customized from an older AK unit, dominated by whites, blacks and reds accented by a silver frame. It was specifically customized for speed and mobility, resulting in a slim, lightweight design. The optics were an off grey, and give off a very faint glow. On its left shoulder was an emblem of a burning rose, Ruby's personal emblem. Stored away on its back was a red slab with black accents.

"Well, sorry!!! I didn't steal a prototype mech like you did!!!"

"Yang," Ruby sighed. "Why did you even use the Burst Mode, anyway? I warned you that activating would purge most of its armor plating, didn't I?"

"You were in trouble!!! I had to do _something_ , you know!!"

"I know, but you could've used something less destructive, like the Apollo Shot."

"Well, yeah, but it was kind of a 'spur of the moment' thing. You were in trouble, I just had to go all out. Somethin like that."

"Yang does have a point, Ruby." Penny said from her screen. "According to my calculations, activating the Burst Mode had the highest chance of garnering the enemy's attention." She finished off, showing a chart on both sisters' screens.

"See? Even Penny's on my side!"

"However," the virtual girl cut in, "that could also be said about the other, less destructive weapons Bumblebee possessed. In fact, not only could they gain attention, but they could also put the enemy unit out of commission. I believe that Yang only wanted to show off the Burst Mode, as she rarely gets to use it." She finished with a smile.

"... I _hate_ you, Penny."

This caused Ruby to laugh, much to her sister's chagrin.

But Penny wasn't finished yet.

"Also, Bumblebee is a Real Robot, yet designed to work like a Super Robot, given that Yang wanted it to be one originally, but can't due to budget constraints. So she must've wanted to pretend she was actually inside a Super Robot, which is why the attacks are Super Robot inspired."

This made Yang sink into herself even more.

"You don't have proof-"

"Oh, but I do!" Penny exclaimed cheerfully, cutting off the blonde. "'Apollo Shot' is a move that allows you to launch a ball of fire at the enemy, clearly inspired by a move of an old Super Robot, Soulgain's Seiryurin. And two more of your attacks are inspired by one show you used to watch in your childhood, Mazinger Z. 'Vulcanus Blow' is based off of the 'Rocket Punch', while the 'Sol Finish' is clearly an homage to the 'Breast Fire' finishing move."

"Guys," Ruby cut in, "we're here. Let's just get this over with. I'll handle the debris, Yang, you go retrieve your armor pieces." she finished, getting to work on what remains of the crate she hid in.

"Fine, but I'm not dropping this." Yang grumbled, bending over to pick up a piece of the mouth plate and sliding it back into place.

 **1 Hour Later...**

"Well, that's the last one." Yang declared, fixing the chest piece back on. Now, Bumblebee looked significantly different, despite still possessing the black and yellow color scheme. It was bulkier, and had more of a tank like look, but still allowed for mobility.

"Hey, Rubes, you done yet?"

"Almost!"

Rosey was placing the last of the debris into a nearby dump truck, giving a thumbs up before the truck left.

"Well, that went faster than expected." Ruby commented as she watched the truck drive off. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Ruby, you have a message from Ms. Goodwitch. Should I open it for you?"

"Hm? Oh, okay."

Penny then opened Glynda's message, showing it to Ruby.

 _'Ms. Rose,_ _I apologize to call this upon you on such short notice, but Ozpin has finally given the details of your initiation to Beacon._

 _Normally, you would be assigned outside of Vale and search for other fellow pilots to form a four person team comprised of two partners._

 _However, due to your unique circumstances, along with three more, you will be assigned to a mission here in the city with a team with members already assigned. Who will be your partner, however, will be the first unit you encounter outside the docks._

 _Since the team members have already been predetermined, your partner will be the unit not yet registered into your database, so your sister will not count._

 _And before you ask: Yes, your sister will be taking the initiation, as well. She will be a member of your team. Ozpin considered her efforts the battle and decided that she also has potential to be at Beacon._

 _And do not worry about the paperwork. Your father has agreed to handle the paperwork for your transfer. Simply focus on locating your teammates, you will be debriefed of your mission once your team has been assembled._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Glynda Goodwitch'_

After reading the message, Ruby saw a file attached to it, and asked Penny to open it for her:

 _'This will be your clue as to who your future teammates will be._ _You will be given the initials, and the names will automatically fill out once contact has been established._

 ** _R - Ruby Rose_**

 ** _W - ???_**

 ** _B - ???_**

 ** _Y - Yang Xiao Long_**

 _Good luck on your initiation.'_

I can't believe it, Ruby thought. This is actually happening. I wonder who our teammates will be?

She then looked towards Yang, who was also reading her message, who noticed Ruby looking and shrugged.

"Guess we're doing this, huh?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

"Let's go!"

\- LINE BREAK -

 **Unknown place, Unknown time**

"Ugh..." a figure groaned, clutching his head, opening his eyes.

"Wait, where am I...?"

He looked around, but it was too dark, so he felt around, appearing to be in some sort of cockpit.

"Ugh, too dark." he mumbled to himself, feeling around for something, _anything_ to increase the lighting. He really didn't mind the dark, but something about this darkness unsettled him. It almost seemed alive, about to consume him.

After a few more minutes of blindly feeling around, he finally found a switch. When he flicked it, the cockpit opened. He sighed in relief at the light slowly increasing, but it was short lived. Coming out to see where he was, he almost wanted to go back inside at what he saw.

The sky was a deep, bloody red. The ground was pitch black, the kind that seemed to just suck up the light. There were trees everywhere, but they were all withered and dead. But what was most unsettling was not the sight, but the sound.

Silence.

Normally, he would take comfort in silence, but this silence felt different. This silence was devoid of anything. No winds, no footsteps, just a cold, dead silence.

Dead, he thought. This place... is dead...

Something about this place seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't remember. Sitting back down, he checked whatever he was in could move. Finding the switch, he flicked it on shut the hatch. For a few seconds, there was silence, then he finally heard the hum of an engine starting up. The screens booted up, giving off a red glow.

"Alright," he said, tapping the status icon, "let's see whatever this thing is."

A status screen popped up revealing the unit he was inside.

 **'Beowulf Type-A'**

"Beowulf?!" he asked out loud. "I'm inside a Grimm?!"

Before he could rant a bit more, he heard footsteps coming from all around him. One thing is for sure, they are _not_ human.

"Crap." he muttered, tapping a few more icons, revealing a map.

"I'll worry about this later. For now, I need to know where I am."

After finding out where he was, he froze, stared at the screen. and fell back on his seat. No wonder it all looked familiar. He always read books about this when he was younger.

"I... I'm in the Grimmlands..."

 **Well, that's about it. I know it's basically just a filler, but I'm just so drained right now. I'll try to get the next chapter out by this week, but no promises.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	4. Chapter 3 : Partners, part 1

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here. As promised, here is the latest chapter of SRW : Remnant. Got myself some free time, and as it turns out, I write pretty fast. ( Which... isn't necessarily a good thing)**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter 3 : Partner** **s, Part 1**

 **8:45 AM, Robot Path, Downtown Vale**

After reading the messages, the two sisters decided to split up and search Vale for their respective partners. While Yang decided to take to the skies, Ruby decided to save energy and take the Robot Path by foot.

The Robot Path was a wide part of the streets of Vale, specifically designed to be used by mechs, separated from buildings and other lanes by a very high, near indestructible Dust infused glass divider. Originally used by police units, now it is for mechs of all types, especially those without flight capabilities. However, only those registered are the only ones allowed to use this path.

Ruby was right now inside Rosey, taking said path. She was taking in the sights of the city, looking at anything she finds interesting. The cars driving by the next lane, people walking by the footbridges, the tall buildings, the blue sky, basically anything that catches her eye.

She rarely gets to see this part of Vale, so she's making the most of it.

Which is why she walked directly into another mech taking the Robot Path.

"Whoa!" she cried out as Rosey fell flat on the street, shaking her around in the cockpit, making her dizzy.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!!!" a voice yelled at her.

"S-sorry!" Ruby stammered out.

"Penny, why didn't you warn me?" she whispered to Penny.

"I _did_ ," Penny deadpanned, "but you were too distracted with sightseeing to hear me."

Ruby sighed, then looked towards the unit she bumped into.

It looked fairly new. White dominated its entire color scheme, accented with a soft blue. Its design practically screamed elegance. Smooth curves, a clean, sleek silhouette, and a light, but durable frame. Clearly designed for high mobility. Mounted on its hip was what appeared to be some sort of rapier.

If Ruby was a guy, she would have a boner right now at the mere sight of this mech.

Shaking her head, she quickly apologized as best as she could.

"Look, I'm _really_ sorry, but I tend to get distracted sometimes, and since this is kinda my first time around this part of town. I rarely get to use the Robot Path, so I'm _kinda_ making the most of this opportunity. Not that this happens a lot, believe me, this isn't the first time I ran into another mech, but it rarely happens, only when I'm too focused to pay attention to my surroundings."

Ruby paused, realizing she was about to ramble again, and took a deep breath.

"What I mean to say is, I'm sorry, and I promise I won't inconvenience you any more than I already have, and I'll be out of your way, now."

Her apology was met with silence.

"...Umm...?"

"You know, you could have just started with _that_."

"Oh..."

"Look," the pilot sighed, "I apologize, as well. I wasn't really looking where I was going, I was being chased, you see-"

"Wait, you were being chased? By who?"

As if suddenly remembering, the white unit turned around, its optics glowed blue, raised its hand, summoning a glyph with a snowflake in the center.

Ruby knew that symbol too well. Who doesn't? It's always all over the news.

"A Schnee..." Ruby whispered to herself. "Wait, if a Schnee's here then that means-"

 ** _BANG!!!_**

The glyph was suddenly hit by a large dust round, but it didn't do any damage.

When the smoke cleared out, Ruby could see several bipedal unpainted mechs with cannons mounted on their backs approaching. On their backs were flags with a picture of a panther's snarling head, with three claw marks behind it.

"The White Fang...!" Ruby breathed out.

"Crap, they already caught up." the white mech's pilot muttered, then turned to face Ruby. "Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you, but you need to get out of here. You don't have to get dragged into any of - _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_ "

Rosey was reaching for the slab mounted on its back, unlatching it and carrying it in its hand.

"Penny, activate rifle mode."

All of a sudden, the slab unfolded into a red sniper rifle, which was aimed towards the oncoming troops.

"Switch ammunition to Freeze."

A sound was heard from the rifle, signalling confirmation.

Then it opened fire.

Three rounds were fired, but none were aimed at the enemy. Instead, they aimed for the street. With each shot making impact, ice exploded everywhere, creating a wall.

"That should do it." Ruby said. "Come on! Let's hide somewhere!"

"R-right!" the pilot said, as they fled the area.

"By the way, I'm Ruby. What's yours?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you who I am, for my own safety."

"Uhh... I'm _pretty_ sure whoever's chasing you is a bigger threat than I am. Besides, you _kinda_ gave away who you were when you activated your semblance, so I already know you're a Schnee. I gave you my first name, so I think it's only fair you gave me yours."

"...Fine. But only if you tell me your last name."

"Sure!"

"I'm Weiss. Weiss Schnee."

"Nice to meet you, Weiss! I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose!"

"Likewise. But as much as I enjoy this conversation, I think we should take our leave."

"Oh, right! Almost forgot about that... Uhh... Right this way!"

Rosey took off, with Weiss following behind, shaking her head.

"Of all the people I had to run into, it _had_ to be a dolt like her..."

With both of them too distracted, neither of them noticed the notification on pop up on both of their screens.

 **Partner found!**

 **R - Ruby Rose**

 **W - Weiss Schnee**

\- LINE BREAK -

 **Unkown time, Grimmlands**

Oh god, oh crap, what did I do to deserve this?! He thought as he maneuvered the Beowulf he was piloting into a small cave, away from other Grimm, making sure to not get noticed.

He didn't even care to know how he knows how to move it. All he wants to know is how he got here in the first place, and why he was inside this cockpit.

The cave was deeper than it looked. Deep inside was a network of tunnels that split into different paths, some leading into dead ends.

Not wanting to get lost, he stopped exploring when he encountered the first fork along the path.

Well, damn, he thought. _Please_ tell me I didn't just run into God's Mouth.

He was about to finally take a rest when the screen warned him of an energy signature approaching.

Gripping the controls, he glared at the direction where the energy signature was coming from. He was practically shaking in his seat, ready to battle whatever was down there to the death.

When he spotted a pair of glowing red optics, he freaked out.

"Alright, that's it!!!" he shouted, "I'm piloting this Beowulf, and somehow I know how to use this thing, and I'm going to put this knowledge into _goddamn use_ if any of you even try to get close!!!"

"Well, I'm piloting this Ursa, and I _also_ somehow know how to use this thing, and _I'm_ gonna use this _as well_ if _you_ try to get close!!!" A voice cried.

What. The. Fuck.

Out of the shadows came out an Ursa, type of Grimm designed for tanking through certain types of conventional weaponry, but overall it was just a bulkier variant of the Beowulf.

The cockpit opened up to reveal a male figure, possibly 18 years of age, with friendly light blue eyes and cream colored hair. His expression was that of mild surprise and relief.

"If I'm honest, I thought I was the only guy here."

There was a few moments of silence before the Beowulf's cockpit opened to reveal a male about the same age as him, with jet black hair and sharp grey eyes. His expression was also that of surprise and relief.

"Yeah, well, about a minute ago, so did I."

 **Well, that's about it.Yeah, short, I know, sorry 'bout that. I'm still introducing the characters here, so I apologize if the pacing seems weird. Don't know when the next one'll come out, as I got a thesis to work on.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!!!**


	5. Chapter 4 : Partners, part 2

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here!!! I bring you another chapter of SRW: Remnant!!! I'm uploading one right now** **, 'cause I don't know when the next one'll come out. My schedule as of late is _pretty_ hectic, I don't know how often I'll be able to take a break and write.**

 **Also, a new story idea just jammed itself into my head the moment I was halfway through with this, and it wouldn't leave my head. I _might_ upload it here once this story reaches around chapters 20-25, so be on the lookout for that.**

 **And without further ado, here it is!**

 **Chapter 4: Partners,** **part 2**

 **9:25 AM, Shopping District, Downtown Vale**

Shortly after splitting up, Yang took off to the sky to get a better view of who could be her potential partner. However, after fifteen minutes, she decided to land near the Shopping District.

The Shopping District was basically an open mall in Downtown Vale. It had shops ranging from simple food stands to parts shops for mechs of different types.

The reason she landed here was because she was about to overheat Bumblebee's engine, and now was waiting for them to cool down. Unlike other Real Robots, Yang designed Bumblebee to behave like a Super Robot, which to her, needed to possess a seemingly endless amount of fuel. However, this was way too expensive for Yang, so she opted for a solar-powered engine instead. It was also equipped with a secondary and tertiary energy reserve which stores collected solar energy, and becomes active when the primary energy reserve is depleted.

It's also prone to overheating when used too much.

Which led Yang to her current situation. Currently, she was on her way back to her mech, which was sitting somewhere around the parking lot of the Shopping District. In her hand was a cup of lemonade, which she purchased at one of the stores. Looking at her watch, she frowned at the time displayed.

Oh, man, she thought. Still a few minutes left...

Arriving at where Bumblebee was docked, she opened the hatch and rested on the chair while she finished her drink.

Resting her cheek on her palm, she wondered whether this engine was a good idea or not.

Maybe I should ask Ruby about this, she thought to herself. She might know how to put in a better cooling system than what I currently have.

She smiled to herself at the thought of her younger sister going through several designs, each more ridiculous than the last. The look of pure excitement on Ruby's face at the aspect of upgrading a mech aside from her own.

The smile was then replaced with a frown. Ruby was a smart kid, heck, Penny was proof of that, but this was also the reason for her to be cast out among her peers. Back at Signal, she was a target of bullying on several occasions, ranging from simply tripping her to cornering her and mocking her for her hobbies.

Strangely enough, this did not seem to affect Ruby in the least. In fact, her love for robots just seemed to increase as time passes.

Yang's smile slowly returned as she remembered Ruby's words when asked.

 _"They're just words, Yang. I don't need everyone to accept what I love to do. If they don't like me, then it's fine. I have you guy_ _s. And as long as you accept me, that's always enough for me."_

She just couldn't help but embrace her sister after hearing those words from her mouth, with a content smile on her face.

However, her frown returned again as she remembered what happened three months ago.

Her bullies went too far.

Ruby went back home with tears staining her cheeks. Yang practically launched herself to her sister, enveloping her in a hug as Ruby cried in her arms.

When Ruby stopped crying, Yang asked her what happened, she didn't respond, instead she reached into her bag and pulled out a bunch of crumpled up papers.

Her blueprints were ruined.

They were torn, crumpled up, but most of all, the designs were ruined. There were various insults and profanities written across each drawing, all with different markers.

Not only that, but most of the complete ones were stolen.

When Taiyang found out, he immediately reported the students responsible. But without any further proof, the incident was brushed off.

Taiyang was not pleased, to say the least. It would have gone physical, if it weren't for Raven holding him back.

Qrow, who was in charge of Ruby's class, was strangely passive about it, considering he practically raised Ruby as if she were his own. Fast forward a week later, and he called all parents and guardians to watch the evaluation of the blueprints. Much to everyone's shock, several students failed his evaluation for using stolen blueprints. Of course, there was denial among them.

Yang's smile returned again as she remembered Qrow's words.

 _"You all seriously think you would fool me? I_ taught _Ruby how she should design her own mech. All of these designs went through me before she could put them in her portfolio. I_ know _these blueprints. Hell, some of them I helped design. If_ any _of you think I wouldn't recognize my own niece's work from others, then you've got another thing coming. If you think you could get far by stealing other people's hard work, then this path isn't for you."_

After that, instructors kept a _much_ closer eye on their students. This, however, did nothing to stop the bullying.

It lessened, sure, but it never went away. This really caused Ruby to shut herself off from her peers. She spent days in front of a computer, typing away at something. It wasn't known until two days later, Penny was introduced.

Yang was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a beeping from her wrist.

Looks like it's ready, she thought. Ruby doesn't have to worry about them, anymore. She's going to Beacon now, and this time, I'll be there to keep her safe.

Finishing her drink, she shut the hatch and started Bumblebee up, once again taking flight. After a few minutes of flight, she decided to land on top of a building. There, she found a black mech docked on a landing pad. It was a couple of feet shorter than Bumblebee, and definitely less bulky. Some armor plates carried a slight purple gradient. Its optics, though inactive, were obviously yellow in color. Atop its head were two short, triangular communication antennas, a telltale sign of what model it was.

A Caitsith? Yang wondered to herself. What's it doing here unattended?

"You know," a voice called from the Caitsith's open cockpit "I was wondering when you would actually come and find me."

"Huh?"

All of a sudden, a notification popped up on Yang's screen.

 **Partner** **found!**

 **B - Blake Belladonna**

 **Y - Yang Xiao Long**

Yang then opened the hatch and exited her mech as her new partner did the same.

Lilac met amber as they got off their respective units. The girl, who was apparently Blake, had long, wavy black hair with a pair of cat ears atop it. She was wearing a black jumpsuit with purple and gray accents, with a symbol Yang couldn't make out atop the left breast.

"Guess we're partners?"

"Looks like it. We should get going. Your sister and her partner are probably waiting."

"Wait, how did you...?"

Blake simply smirked as she re-entered her mech.

Yang watched as the Caitsith's hatch shut and the unit started up, its large optics letting out a faint glow. As soon as it stood up, the blonde did the same, and they were off.

\- LINE BREAK -

 **Unknown time, Grimmlands**

"By the way, I'm Cliff Zwart." the boy with cream colored hair suddenly said.

"What?" The black haired boy asked, confused.

They were inside the cave for a couple of hours now, and managed to find enough materials to start a fire. Luckily, they were deep enough inside that the fire wouldn't be noticable.

"My name. I don't think we ever introduced each other in the past hour or so." Cliff shrugged.

"We didn't. I didn't think it would be important."

"Well, I for one think that we should at least know each other's names if we're gonna be here a while. It'd be much better than 'Other guy who can pilot a Grimm like me', what if we run into another one who can do that? Or two?"

"I don't know. That seems kinda unlikely."

"I also thought it was unlikely to find someone else in a place like this, but look where we are now."

"... Fine. But don't say anything about my name, got it?"

"Come on. Unless your name is Dmitri Crotchlickmeoff, you won't catch me off guard."

"... Dmitri what...?"

"Eeehh, it's from a show I watch, don't mind it. So, name?"

He thought for a moment before sighing.

"Schwartz. Clyde Schwartz."

Cliff's reaction was _exactly_ what he expected. Recognition and surprise.

"Schwartz? Isn't that-"

"Drop it."

"But-"

"Shush."

"Wai-"

"I said _QUIET_." Clyde whispered harshly.

With that, Cliff quieted down, after observing his companion's face. He heard something, and he was trying to hear it again.

He copied him, and listened for something. It was faint, but there seems to be a commotion outside.

"Sounds like..." Cliff trailed off.

"A battle." Clyde finished for him.

"Should we go check it out?"

Then, they heard large footsteps approaching them.

"Not like we have a choice. Come on!" Clyde shouted as he got back inside his Beowolf, immediately shutting the hatch and starting it up.

Cliff did the same, with added haste.

Both glared down at the source of the noise at it got closer.

The dim light given of by the fire gave enough lighting to see what they were up against.

A Nevermore and a Deathstalker. Two types of Grimm that could only be taken down by a full team.

I guess this is it, he thought bitterly. This must be the end for us.

Clyde expected many things to happen at this moment.

What he _didn't_ expect was for the Nevermore to speak.

"Huh? Grimm? I thought for sure I heard someone shout from here." a feminine voice wondered out loud into the comm.

"... Eh...?"

"Told 'ya." Cliff said, which made the Nevermore's pilot sigh in relief.

"Oh, thank God. I don't have to kill you."

 **Well, that's about it. Unnecessary flashback, go!!! Also, change of plans. Remember what I said earlier about and idea? Well, I'll just put a, sample, I guess, as a chapter of RWBY Randomness to see if anyone wants to see it as a full story.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!!!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Gang's All Here!

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here once again bringing you another chapter of SRW: Remnant! I am currently ON A ROLL with this story and I hope to get another chapter out after this one by next week.**

 **Anyways, not much to say, on with the chapter!!!**

 **Chapter** **5 :** **The Gang's All Here!**

 **10:05 AM, Robot Path, Downtown Vale**

The Robot Path. Basically a highway for robots. The path was currently empty, save for a few units. Those few being the units of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and the mass-produced units of the White Fang.

The two were currently on the run from said mass-produced units, or as Yang liked to call them, 'grunt suits'.

"Ruby," the Schnee asked. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, we're headed to the docks!" Ruby shouted back. "The Robot Path doesn't head anywhere else, anyways, since our other exit is blocked off, so unless you know a way to get rid of the divider, this is kinda the only way!"

"Why?"

"'Cause we can get more freedom of movement there!"

"No. I mean why the docks? Wouldn't it be too risky there?"

That made Ruby pause for a second before answering.

"Actually... The docks are already kinda wrecked..."

"...What?"

"Yeeaaahh... I was just there a moment ago, helping clean up..."

"Why would you-" her question was cut off by an explosion from where they came.

"Duck!" Weiss shouted.

Both units crouched low on the street, the projectile narrowly missing them.

"Whoa, that was close!" Ruby sighed in relief. "Penny, visual?" she whispered.

"Of course, Ruby. Just one moment." Penny replied before closing her eyes. As Penny processed the surrounding area, the two mechs were back on their feet and running again towards the direction of the docks.

"They'll catch up any moment!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Done!" Penny announced cheerfully. "The docks are just approximately 3 kilometers away, and the enemy units are currently in pursuit, 1 kilometer away!"

"Alright." Rosey then skidded to a stop, turning around.

"Ruby, what are you-"

"Weiss, I'm gonna make another wall." she declared, pulling out the rifle.

"Wait! That won't work. They got past the first one easily."

"Then let's make a thicker one!!" She exclaimed, aiming the rifle. There were flaws in her logic, but her voice carried no argument.

"Ugh. Fine, but we have to be quick" Reluctantly, Weiss quickly placed a set of glyphs in front of the barrel. "Just fire into that." she instructed.

And with that, Ruby pulled the trigger, the glyph enhancing the effect of the dust round, exploding into solid spikes of ice on the road. She repeated this twice. Thrice. Four times.

Soon enough, they were seperated from the rest of the Robot Path by a solid wall of ice.

"C'mon!" Ruby shouted, storing the rifle again.

"H-Hey, slow down a bit!"

"Penny, ETA?" she whispered.

"About 30 minutes normally, and 20 minutes with thrust." the digital girl replied.

Alright, she thought. Plenty of time!

"Hey, Weiss?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"What? Why?"

"Just answer the question!"

Weiss thought about it. She really couldn't just trust the girl right there. From what she saw, Ruby was impulsive, reckless, and a bit childish.

Although, she thought. Her quick thinking _did_ hold them back. And she _did_ seem friendly.

She thought about her decision for another few seconds before coming up with her answer.

"Sorry, I don't."

"Oh..."

"It's just-"

"Too bad. Just don't be mad about what I'll do."

All of a sudden, Rosey grabbed Weiss' unit.

"Wait, what are you-"

"Hang on!!!"

The sideskirts on Rosey suddenly opened, revealing a pair of thrusters, which began to hum, a telltale sign of what was going to happen next.

"Boost!!!"

Both mechs were suddenly launched as the thrusters started up. Ruby maneuvered Rosey through the remainder of the Robot Path with relative ease, all while accompanied by Weiss' startled screaming.

The city of Vale just sped by their eyes as they dashed through the street. For a second, Weiss briefly wondered if this was what it's like to ride one of those bullet trains Klein told her about. But that thought was soon replaced by another. A name.

 ** _"RUBY ROSE!!!"_**

"H-hey, quit squirming!!! We're almost there!!!"

Although, Ruby thought. We _do_ seem to be going faster than expected.

\- LINE BREAK -

 **10:10 AM, Vale Docks**

"Hey, Blake?"

"Hm?"

"Why are we waiting here at the docks?"

The two new partners were currently at the end of the Robot Path, which leads straight to the docks. Blake stopped here and simply waited for their other future teammates.

"They'll be here any minute." she simply explained.

"How do you know?"

"I'll explain later. They'll arrive in approximately ten minutes."

"There it is again! How do you do that?!"

"Look," Blake sighed "I'll explain everything later. But for now, let's wait for your sister and her partner."

Yang had been asking these questions the moment they took off, with Blake always avoiding the question.

"But-"

"Salutations, Yang!" Penny exclaimed cheerfully, suddenly popping up on Yang's screen, startling her.

"OH SHIT- PENNY?! WHAT GIVES?!?!"

"I came to ask you to catch Ruby! She is coming here at a quite dangerous speed, and I need you to help her slow down."

This made the blonde blink before sighing.

"... Let me guess. She forgot she upgraded her thrusters again?"

A nod from Penny was all the answer she needed.

Of course, Yang thought. This is _really_ becoming a habit for her.

"Blake, could you move back about, let's say, twenty meters? You know what, just stand by the water."

"Huh? Um, okay."

She then moved her Caitsith the distance Yang specified.

"Dust Engine, Full Drive."

Bumblebee's lilac optics began to glow brighter.

"Aura Field, Maximum Output."

The optics began to change color, changing from lilac to a deep, burning red. Then Bumblebee was engulfed in a ring of fire, surrounding the mech in a towering inferno.

"Armor Bits, Purge!"

Every single armor she reapplied began to unlatch themselves from the unit, steam coming from every seam.

"Semblance System, Activate!"

In the distance, Yang could see Rosey approaching at a very fast speed as the flames intensified. She then raised her mech's arms, forming them into fists facing each other, held in front of its chest.

"Bumblebee..."

"YAAAAAAAAAAANNGGG!!!!"

"... **BURST!!!!!** "

Its fists met, and the pillar of fire exploded, scattering flames across the surrounding area, along with the Armor Bits. A plume of fire came out from behind its head, and began to extend into its golden fiery mane.

The shockwave from activation of the Burst Mode was enough to slow Rosey's approach down enough for Ruby to stop her unit on her own.

The red and white units fell on the street with a crash, scratching the paint but not doing any serious damage.

Yang then deactivated the Burst Mode, the flames dissipating and the optics reverting to lilac, and approached her sister's unit.

"Hey, sis," she started "How ya holdin' up?"

A thumbs up from Rosey was answer enough.

"Good. 'Cause I think your partner there is going to kill you for ruining their paint job." she finished, pointing to the scratched up unit underneath Rosey.

This made Ruby panic and quickly brought Rosey to her feet.

"OhmygodWeissI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantolandonyouitwasanaccidentdon'tbemaaaaaad!!!"

Weiss' unit simply rose to its feet, and slowly approached Rosey.

"Ruby," she started, her voice low " I'm giving you until the count of three to run-"

"I think that should wait for later." Blake chimed in, approaching the three. "Now that we're all here, we can finally know what our initiation will be."

"Huh?" Ruby asked, confused. " But I haven't found my partner yet."

Penny suddenly appeared on her center screen, and cleared her throat. When she got Ruby's attention, she pointed to the right screen, where her notice lay ignored up until that moment.

"Wait. Weiss, _you're_ my partner?!"

"What?!" There was a few seconds of silence before Ruby heard what sounded like slapping.

Meanwhile, inside her cockpit, Weiss facepalmed.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me!!!"

All of a sudden, all four received a message from Glynda.

 _'Greetings,_

 _It appears you have finally located your partners and teammates. Which means you can be briefed about your initiation into Beacon._

 _As you may have noticed, the White Fang has been spotted in the city's Robot Path, and are currently on their way to the docks. From what we've gathered, their target is one of yours, Weiss Schnee._

 _Your mission will be to intercept these units, and engage them in combat. The objective will be either to eliminate all units, get them to retreat_ _, or hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive._

 _You will be judged on your performance, and the team leader will be decided on our criteria._

 _Good luck and take care,_

 _Glynda Goodwitch.'_

The four girls stared at the message.

"Guess... this is it, huh?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah..." Yang answered.

"Guys, we should get our head in the game." Blake stated, getting into position.

"Whatever. As long as any of you won't get in my way." Weiss stated, with a sudden determination, drawing the rapier and standing ahead of them.

Huh? Ruby thought. What's with the sudden change?

-LINE BREAK-

 **Unknown time, Grimmlands**

The four Grimm pilots gathered around the fire after getting off of their units. The Nevermore's pilot was a short girl with black hair arranged in to a _long_ ponytail, and red eyes, while the Deathstalker's pilot was a tall male with short, curly gray hair, dark brown eyes and glasses.

No word was shared among them, until all of a sudden, the girl gave Clyde a very tight hug.

"I can't believe it." she sniffed out. "You... You're okay...!"

"Huh?" Clyde asked, confused but with a hint of recognition. He _knew_ that voice. He couldn't hear it as well from inside the cockpit, but now that he heard it unfiltered, there was no doubt.

"Lumina...?" he asked hesitantly. She was still alive...? It can't be. I saw...

She then pulled away from her hug, revealing her teary-eyed face to him, and nodded. "G-Good to see ya, Bro..." she said with a shaky voice, smiling.

Now it was Clyde's turn to hug her. He hugged his sister as tightly as he could, but instead of crying, he was laughing.

"Same here. Same here..."

"Umm, can anyone care to explain?" Cliff asked, confused.

The two apparently siblings broke their hug to face their companions.

"This is my sister, Lumina." he said, introducing his sister.

"Lumina Schwartz, at your service." She greeted with an exaggerated bow.

"Oh. Well, Cliff Zwart. Nice to meet you."

They then looked at their other companion, who hadn't said a word.

"Walter Noir." he stated simply.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Cliff spoke.

"And...?"

"That's it. I don't know any of you personally, so I won't give any sort of emotional introduction."

"... Right. Sooo... what's the plan?"

Clyde then opened the map.

"From the looks of it, there's a path down south that leads out of here and into the kingdoms. Once we make it there, we can think of a plan back into civilization. There's four of us, so we're probably as good as a full team right now, so we should be able to take on whatever is out there, as long as it's not anything too excessive."

Cliff nodded in confirmation. There was no complaint from the other two. They immediately got in their respective units and exited the cave. Upon exiting, they were immediately greeted by Beowolves.

"I guess this is the first wave, huh?" Cliff asked.

"Doesn't matter. Let's just get this over with so we can leave!" Clyde shouted.

 **Aaand that's about it!!!**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	7. Chapter 6: Black Wings, part 1

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here again with a new chapter. Bear with me on this one, I'm not the best at fight scenes, let alone robot fights ( Pretty sure Chapter one is proof enough).**

 **But enough of beating myself up, on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter 6: Black Wings** **, part 1**

 **10:40 AM, Vale Docks**

Here they come, Ruby thought. Took them long enough.

She deployed Rosey's rifle and took position. Glancing to her left, she could see Blake's Caitsith drawing what looked like a katana with a pistol for a hilt.

Practical, she thought. Saves time for switching between modes, I guess. She has _got_ to let me look at her unit and its weapons afterward!

Next to the Caitsith was Bumblebee, deploying two small gatling guns hidden in its forearms. The 'Agni Raid', the only weapon not inspired by any Super Robot, mostly because Ruby added it in without Yang's knowledge.

Boy was she pissed, Ruby thought, remembering her sister's initial reaction. Good thing she liked it when I told her it could blow things up pretty nicely.

That was no joke. Its bullets were pretty powerful, strong enough to break through armor plating of standard mass-produced units. She rarely uses it, though, as she preferred to get up close and personal with her opponents.

Finally turning to her front, she looked at the unit of her partner, Weiss. It was still in that same position as it was when they started waiting. She seemed to be focused solely on the task at hand, and nothing else. Any attempt at small talk would result in the Schnee telling her off rather harshly.

At least tell me what your unit's called, Ruby grumbled in her mind. I've never seen anything like it. The Schnees are pretty rich, so she must've gotten that custom made, or something.

"Ruby," Yang started, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Shouldn't you be deploying your weapon right now?"

"Oh, yeah." Ruby then unfolded the rifle, and took aim.

"Guys. They're here." Blake said, taking aim.

The two sisters looked forward, spotting the White Fang units in the distance.

"Here comes the first wave!" Yang declared, aiming.

"Wait for it..." Ruby warned, judging the distance through her scope. According to it, they were about 1500 meters away.

1500 meters, she thought. Within my effective range. If we could get them 500 meters closer, they're within Yang's range. Not sure about Blake, though. From what I saw, Weiss's glyphs are pretty much immune to their Dust rounds. We can pick them off one by one while she covers us. That should hold them back enough until reinforcements arrive. Just to confirm, I'll tell-

Before Ruby could finish, Weiss's unit charged into battle, already taking out a few units with her rapier.

"What are you doing?!" Ruby shouted, going after her partner. After storing the rifle again, Rosey's thighs opened up, deploying two bladed weapons. The Anti-Armor Knives.

"Man, my sis works fast. She only got those last night." Yang said, storing the guns away. "We should probably follow them."

"Mm-hm." Blake agreed, joining her partner in their charge.

They were taking units out left and right. Ruby would slash one, then move to kick another down. Yang made use of Bumblebee's fists, crushing them one by one. Blake was also pretty fast with her Caitsith, slashing and leaping in a display of acrobatics the unit was known for.

As for Weiss...

The Schnee was engaged in a battle of her own, taking down units left and right with deadly accuracy. Each stab from her rapier was precise and hit just the right spot putting each foe out of commission.

However, she was starting to get isolated from her team as she wove her way through the White Fang. Soon she was completely surrounded by the enemy units, and she wasn't even aware.

Blake was the first to notice, and immediately called Ruby, seeing she was the closest.

"Ruby!" she called over the comm. "Weiss is surrounded. Help her out!"

Ruby turned to the direction where her partner was, and her eyes widened.

One unit was about to fire one of their back mounted cannons at Weiss. Right at her back.

"Weiss!!!" Ruby cried out, throwing the knife right into the unit's side, causing it to explode.

Weiss turned around to see an enemy unit far behind her explode in a burst of flames, the surrounding units catching fire and exploding as well. The others saw the explosion and quickly evaded the shrapnel.

"You dolt!" Weiss yelled at her. "Do you have any idea how _reckless_ that was?! You could have blown up the Robot Path!!!"

Ruby was taken aback. _That_ was her thanks for saving her?!

Blake suddenly appeared at Ruby's side.

"She blew up a unit that was about to fire into yours. It wouldn't kill you to show a little appreciation. Since she wouldn't have needed to do that if you didn't seperate yourself from us in the first place."

Weiss simply huffed.

"Whatever. I _warned_ you all to stay out of my way."

Oh, so it was _my_ fault?! Ruby shouted in her head. What's with the sudden change in attitude?! Seriously, now you're acting like a total bi-

 ** _"Apollo Shot!!!"_**

Suddenly, nearby enemy units were set ablaze by a ball of fire. The three looked in the direction the fire came from to find Bumblebee with its right fist possessing a fading glow from the heat it had released.

"Less chatting, more beating up baddies!!!" Yang shouted, deploying her hidden guns and aiming at the oncoming group.

 ** _"Agni Raid!!!"_**

Soon several White Fang units found themselves in pieces from the continuous gunfire.

"We'll talk about this later!" Ruby shouted, unfolding the rifle and firing several rounds.

It wasn't long before the other two members were also firing into the oncoming group. Blake's Caitsith was using its pistol, while Weiss's unit pulled out a small pistol hidden in its right thigh.

Soon, the entire wave of enemies was engulfed in bullets and fire, reducing the bipedal opponents into burning scrap heaps.

But when Ruby heard their bullets start to bounce off of something, she sensed something was up.

"Guys, wait." Ruby ordered, the team stopping, looking towards her in confusion.

"What's up, sis?" Yang asked, before a loud thundering footstep answered her question.

They tried to make out what was behind the smoke, but it was too thick.

However, Penny _did_ find a red laser pointed in their general direction.

"Ruby, warn the others!" the virtual girl cried.

Ruby, seeing the red laser, quickly yelled into the comm.

"Guys, **_WATCH OUT!!!_** "

All four units quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the oncoming missile.

After avoiding, Ruby could make out a gigantic silhouette in the smoke.

"Uh oh." Ruby gulped.

It was a gigantic silver mech stomping towards them. Much like the previous units, it was also unpainted, but it bore the White Fang's symbol on its gigantic right forearm. Several guns decorated the center of the mech, along with missile pods stacked on top its wide shoulders.

"Uhh, guys?" Yang asked "You guys seeing this?"

"Uh huh." Blake agreed.

"That's a..." Weiss started, before she was cut off by her partner.

"It's the first ever Paladin!!!" Ruby shouted excitedly.

"Uhh, Rubes, I don't think we should be excited about this..." Yang told her sister before she could go on another rant.

"Oh. Umm, right..."

"Any ideas on how to take on something that size?"

Ruby hummed in thought, trying to remember what she could about the first Paladin.

Let's see, she thought. They were armed to the teeth with guns, equipped with a giant bunker on their left arm, they have sights everywhere, possess an almost perfect center of balance due to its legs, _and_ are built with extremely durable metal, but why were they discontinued again...?

Ruby took a closer look, hiding behind some destroyed units. The cameras passed by her hiding place, but couldn't find her. The others soon followed suit, hiding amidst the rubble. As Ruby observed, she also found that the cameras were only focused on the front and sides of the Paladin, but the view behind was obstructed by its armor plates.

Wait, she thought. That's it!

She then spoke into the comm, informing her teammates.

"Guys, I got it. I got some of its weaknesses, so let's focus on those. It's big, but with size sacrifices its speed and agility. Its back is also practically unprotected, since its cameras are pretty hindered, so we found a blind spot. Also, since it's a pretty outdated unit, it can't sense the newer units like ours. I'm sure there are other weaknesses, but those are all we have at the moment, and we'll find more later, but let's work with what we got and think of a plan there!"

Penny smiled at her creator's quick thinking. Sometimes I wonder what's the point of asking me on certain information, she thought.

There was a silence as the others processed the information given to them.

Weiss was the first to speak up.

"How about hitting it from behind? We get behind it, and aim for its back with our strongest weapons."

"That could work, but what weapon is strong enough to push down a mech of that size?" Blake asked.

Yang loudly cleared her throat, gaining her team's attention.

"Let _me_ handle that part." she declared, with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Well, that settles it, then. Weiss, you and Yang will try to get behind it, while me and Blake will try to tip its balance."

"Wait, how are we gonna do that?" Blake asked her teammate.

"Good thing you asked, Blake. I almost forgot. You see..."

 **11:27 AM, Vale Docks**

Raven Branwen was inside her unit about to finish her patrol around town, when she got a report about an explosion and a battle breaking out between the White Fang and some civilians. Immediately she was on her way to the scene.

Although, she couldn't help but shudder. She couldn't seem to shake away the thought that, somehow, this has Yang and Ruby written all over it.

 **11:45 AM, Robot Path Exit, Downtown Vale**

"... So, what do you guys think?" Ruby asked her teammates, hoping they'll agree to the plan. The Paladin's pilot seems to have given up on finding them, and is considering just blowing up the Robot Path, judging from the way it started aiming its guns.

"Not like we have much time to think of another." Blake pointed out, noticing the Paladin's movements.

"Come on, let's do it!" Yang shouted.

"I suppose it could work. Alright." Weiss nodded.

"Okay, let's go." Ruby declared, pressing a few controls on her screen.

"Dust Engine, Full Drive!"

The grey optics began to glow, emitting bright silver light.

"Aura Field, Maximum Output!"

Rosey's body began to pulse with a red aura, but then pulsed to silver.

A message popped up on Ruby's screen:

 **'AURA AND SEMBLANCE AT 100% COMPATIBILITY'**

"Ruby, you're at one hundred percent!!!" Penny cried out in awe.

Ruby was surprised, to say the least. Compatibility Rate never reached a hundred for her, the highest was always around eighty. But she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be surprised.

"Emission Slits, Open!!!"

Various vents and thrusters opened up around Rosey.

Alright, Ruby thought. Let's see what a hundred percent can do!

"Authourization Code: Red Like Roses!!!" she shouted, not noticing that her eyes were giving off a silver glow this time.

"Semblance System, Full Synchro!!!"

In a burst of silver light, Rosey was actually sent temporarily afloat by the sudden surge of energy.

The Paladin suddenly turned, spotting the light emitted by Ruby's unit.

Rosey took out the rifle, and a part slid up to the barrel, before emitting a bright silver crescent of energy.

"Beam Scythe, Deployed!"

The vents in its back suddenly surged with energy, emitting a curtain of light that seemed to billow in the wind.

"Whoa, one hundred percent gets me a beam mantle?! Awesome!!!"

"Alright, Rosey..." she then nodded to Weiss, who created a path of ice going around the Paladin, which Bumblebee slid across, while being covered by Blake's Caitsith, making it behind the enemy before reactivating its Burst Mode.

"...Let's Dash!!!" in a sudden burst of silver 'rose petals', Rosey was already behind the Paladin.

There was a few moments of silence, before the gigantic mech began to lean back slowly.

"Yang, **_NOW!!!_** "

Bumblebee reared its right fist back, thrusters suddenly opening up around the forearm before they started spinning very fast.

 ** _"Vulcanus Blow!!!"_** Yang shouted, shooting the right forearm right where the cockpit should be. It landed with such force that the Paladin was sent forward before the forearm went through it like butter.

Upon getting pushed forward, the legs have been revealed to have been severed from the rest of the Paladin.

The severed torso hit the ground with a loud crash, falling apart almost immediately.

They quietly observed the wreckage for a few more moments before sighing in relief. It was down for the count. The four then looked around for any possible remaining units, once again relieved that they were all gone.

Ruby was the first to speak up.

"Phew, well I guess that's that. All that's left now is-"

"For all of you to explain just _what the hell_ happened here."

The four turned to find a winged black unit with its arms crossed looking at them.

The Schwarzflügel.

Which means...

"M-Mom?!" Yang squeaked out, fear prevalent in her voice.

 **Aaand that's about it! Sorry, if this is a bit late, Lent was surprisingly busy for the entire family. I promise I'll get the next chapter out by this week.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!!!**


	8. Chapter 7: Black Wings, part 2

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here. Sorry if this is a bit late, a few things happened at home I'm not willing to talk about.(Except for the fact that a relative of mine called me a straight up nutcase in front of my entire family with my back turned, but that's not even the half of my entire situation.) But also, I went job hunting, although it ended in failure again :P .**

 **But enough negativity, on with the chapter!!!**

 **Chapter 7: Black Wings, part 2**

 **Unknown time, Grimmlands**

How long had they been fighting by now?

Clyde had long lost track of time. It wasn't important. What's important is that they get out of this alive. To survive.

But for what? a voice in his head seemed to mock. Even if you manage to get out, and that's a big _if_ , there's nothing waiting for you out there. Sure, you'll save your sister, but what's the point? Mommy and Daddy aren't with you anymore. You have no one left. And do you honestly think they'll just let you prance along the kingdoms inside a Grimm? No, you'll be killed by the first huntsman you'll encounter. They won't listen to reason. They're only concerned about one thing: Cold, hard cash.

Clyde shook his head, tightening his grip on the controls. They were currently taking a break, hiding away behind a rock formation. Fighting continuously was beginning to take their toll on them, and they were beginning to grow restless.

"How much left?" Cliff asked, exhaustion clear in his voice.

Clyde, thankful for the distraction, opened the map.

"Just a few kilometers left. I'd say around ten. We're close."

"Not close enough." Walter piped in. "We won't last long if we keep fighting our way through horde after horde. We need to change our tactics."

Clyde looked down at his controls. Walter had a point. This kind of approach won't get them anywhere.

"Well, where does this rock formation lead, anyway?" Lumina asked.

Clyde looked at the map.

"It looks like we can hide here for the moment. These rocks go on for about three kilometers. We can make decent progress while remaining hidden for the time being."

"If that's the case, why don't we take a bit of rest? We've been at it for a while, and it would be nice to take a breather every once in a while." Cliff asked.

"We can't afford to stay in one spot. But, we could slow down a bit to catch our breath."

Cliff sighed at that.

"Suppose I can't afford to be picky at this moment..."

"Come on. Let's get moving, but try to remain hidden, alright?"

The four continued to walk along the rocks, taking great care not to be spotted by any flying Grimm.

Clyde kept the map within his line of sight as they moved forward.

This went on for almost two hours, moving as quietly as they were allowed to, until they met a rocky wall.

"Looks like we'll have to climb..."

And so, they proceeded to climb the rocks. Clyde and Cliff had the most difficulty, as their units were not meant to climb up rocky terrain. While Walter and Lumina had less issue, with Walter's Deathstalker designed for multiple terrains, and Lumina's Nevermore's flight capabilities allowing it to make it to the top much easier.

Still, Clyde thought. It's kind of scary how well we can operate these units, especially since I never made past simulations.

Upon reaching the top, they immediately noticed what awaits them on the other side.

Hundreds, no, thousands of Grimm were swarming the ground below, completely covering it in a sea of black and white.

"Are you kidding me...?"

See? the voice returned, mocking him once more. You're just prolonging the inevitable. Just accept it, it's futile. _This_ is where you die.

Clyde looked at the Grimm with horror. No matter how it looked, it just seemed impossible.

Is this it? he thought. I just got my sister back, and I'll lose her again right away...?

His grip on the controls tightened, his knuckles turning white.

It's not fair...

Then again, he thought bitterly. When has this world been fair with me to begin with?

"Clyde...?" his sister's voice hesitantly asked through the comm.

He couldn't speak. He let his sister down. Again.

"What are we gonna do now...?" Lumina asked with a trembling voice.

"Easy. We fight!" a voice that was not Clyde's spoke.

"Cliff...?" Clyde looked up and looked at the screen displaying the Ursa pilot.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm _not_ going down without a fight! If I die here, then I'll take a few of these bastards with me!" He declared with determination.

"You're _stupid_." Walter commented. "But... you _do_ make a fair point. I'm not going down _that_ easily either."

"Y-Yeah!" Lumina shouted.

They all looked expectantly at Clyde, who had been silent the entire exchange.

"You're all idiots, you know that?" he said to them. "Then again... I must be pretty stupid myself..." he finished, scratching the back of his head.

Lumina then chuckled at that.

"So... you in or not?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Clyde looked at his sister, and smiled.

"No regrets?"

Lumina smiled back.

"No regrets."

 **"Incredible...!!!"**

"Huh? Did you guys say something?"

The other two just shrugged.

 **"Despite being in the face of certain doom, you kept your heads up. You humans truly are interesting...!!!"**

Clyde then felt a pain drilling at the back of his head as the strange voice kept on speaking.

 **"You amuse me. Very well, we shall aid you..."**

"Hn-whaht?! - ** _GAH!!!_** " he shouted in pain as his eyes flashed blood red for a brief second.

Lumina looked at her brother in concern. His shout drew the attention of the other two.

"Clyde?! What's wrong?!"

Clyde was breathing heavily. He felt like someone cracked his head open and shoved something too large into the opening.

"Agh-!! A-A-"

 **"We shall aid you and your companions. Only if you let us stay..."**

"Wh-what?!"

 **"So that we may study you more...!!! To understand where your will comes from...!!!"**

Clyde's Beowolf began to act strangely. Red light began to pour out from its seams. The armor began moving around, opening up. The mouth plate began to crack.

"What's going on?!" Cliff shouted.

"I-I don't know!!!" Lumina shouted back, tears threatening to spill.

 **"Be grateful now, human. You are one of the few to retain your humanity in accessing our strongest form."**

"S-Strongest?! What are y- **_GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!_** "

 **"Now!!! Shout with us!!! The words that will set you free!!!"**

Clyde's eyes, scrunched up in pain, suddenly snapped open. One eye changed, with black sclera and red irises. And he spoke the words, though he wasn't sure how much of that is his own voice.

 **"G-Mode, Activate!!!"**

-LINE BREAK-

It was just another mission for Qrow. Get rid of Grimm approaching the border, then scare off any wannabe explorer who wants to explore the Grimmlands.

Removing his unit's sword from a fallen Beowolf, he looked around for any more Grimm getting any funny ideas.

However, a warning signal from his screen cut his analysis short.

He immediately flew up, looking down for what could possibly be trying to get a lucky shot at him.

His eyes immediately widened at the approaching debris, urging him to fly even higher. Looking down, he watched in horror and amazement as a strange invisible wave wrecked its way through the Grimmlands, across the border, and clean through a mountain.

"What in the-?!"

"Help!! Anyone, please!!!" a voice cried out from the distance.

Turning to the source of the voice, he followed it, leading to a rock formation.

However, all he saw was four Grimm perched atop the rocks. However, one of them, a Beowolf seemed to be down, and the Nevermore had an open hatch.

Taking a closer look at the Beowolf, he saw a girl, desperately trying to open the Beowolf.

"Clyde, please, open up!!! It's me!!!!"

He landed near the Grimm, making sure to keep his weapon drawn.

The girl then turned to Qrow, showing teary red eyes, and a look of worry and desperation.

"Thank God... Someone came...!!!" the girl said before breaking into tears once again.

Qrow could only scratch his head at what was going on.

Oz might want to see this, he thought.

 **Unknown time, Unknown place**

A girl with light brown hair set into a low ponytail and green eyes walked into a hangar, where a blue mech was being maintained.

"Is it done?" she asked.

One of the workers, possibly the one in charge, approached her.

"Ah, yes of course. Miss... Er..."

"Fen." she stated simply with a smile.

"Yes, of course, Miss Fen, apologies."

Fen just chuckled.

"Relax, man, I'm not Weiss Schnee or some important political figure. I'm just some pilot who happened to find an old mech, which coincidentally played a part in the first Vytal Festival."

He visibly relaxed at that.

"Still..." he continued. "Are you sure you want to use this? It's much less expensive to get yourself an AK unit, then have it customized than to have this completely restored."

"That is true." she agreed. "But there's just something about the older units that have their unique charms. And don't worry about costs, my employer has that fully covered."

"I must say, Miss Fen, you go through such lengths to have this unit restored. May I ask your reason why?"

Fen offered a smile as she simply answered:

"To test it."

"Test it...?"

"Mm-hm." she nodded, looking at the mech. "I wanna test its strength, gauge its abilities, and of course, to see if it truly is worthy of the title..."

"Title, Ma'am?"

Her smile only deepened.

"The Vanishing Trooper."

 **Aaand that's about it!!! Not sure when the next one will be out, but I will have it uploaded. GaeaChronos is out. Peace!!!**


	9. Chapter 8: Ready to Return

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here. Sorry this took so long, I was busy the last few weeks, and my sleeping schedule is kinda screwed up right now, so I spent the last few days trying to adapt to my new schedule. Still not used right now, but I'm getting better!**

 **But enough of that, on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter** **9:** **R** **eady to Return**

 **4:35 AM, Grimmlands**

Clyde opened his eyes to total darkness. He felt the area around him, confirming he was still inside the cockpit. Finding the switch to start his unit up, his eyes widened in confusion upon feeling it was already flicked on.

Out of fuel? he thought, reaching over to open the hatch.

Upon opening the hatch, his forehead was immediately greeted by that of his sister's.

Clyde grunted in pain at the feeling of his sister's skull crashing into his, while Lumina curled into a fetal position, clutching at her aching forehead, groaning in pain.

"H-hey, what were you doing outside my cockpit...?" he asked, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his forehead.

All of a sudden, as if forgetting the pain, his sister looked up and looked at him with a mixture of shock and relief.

"You're okay...!" she exclaimed.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

What's gotten her so worried? he thought. We reunited, and we're on our way back to the kingdoms, all we have to do left is-

Then everything came back. Exiting the cave, fighting their way through hordes of Grimm, and the last few kilometers comprised of-

-The sea of Grimm!!! he thought, remembering the almost infinite sea of black and white, and the sheer hopelessness he felt at the situation.

But wait. What's going on _now?_ Why was Lumina outside my cockpit despite the dangers going on outside?

"Lumina," he began "What were you doing outside? It's too dangerous."

"Don't you know?" Lumina asked "It's all thanks to that special move you did!!!" she finished with a look of awe on her face, remembering the enormous wave of energy he unleashed that wiped out thousands of Grimm.

Clyde blinked in confusion. "My... what?"

"You know... the wave that completely _disintegrate_ _d_ entire hordes!!!"

Clyde just looked at his sister in confusion, but Lumina didn't notice.

"I don't know what it did to the soil, but if any Grimm other than ours were to set foot on it, they recoil as if touching something toxic, and run off scared!"

While Lumina kept gushing about 'how awesome' her brother's special move was, Clyde just looked down in confusion.

 _I_ did something like _that?_ he thought.

"Hey, Lumina, you okay? I heard you scream..." a voice asked.

"Oh, right! Cliff, Clyde's awake!!"

Sure enough, the face of Cliff Zwart peeked through the open hatch.

"Hey! _There's_ our hero!" he cheered.

Cliff then offered a hand to them, which Lumina took, helping her out of the cockpit. Once she was out, he held his hand out again to Clyde.

"Well? Aren't you gonna get out? You must be starving."

Clyde looked at the outstretched hand, then sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, freezing as he felt something embedded into his skin.

Panicking, he felt the device attached to him, finding out it was some sort of cable.

"Huh?! What...?!"

Cliff and Lumina looked at him in confusion, and after spotting the cable-like object, their eyes widened.

"C-Clyde?!"

"D-dude, what is _that?!_ "

"You tell me!! I just woke up, and suddenly I have _this thing_ on my neck!!!"

Clyde then exited the unit, gauging how long the cable was. He was able to get a good few meters before being met with an uncomfortable tug.

"Stop. Don't do that." a voice said.

He looked to the left to find Walter walking towards him from a campfire.

"Let me see." he requested.

Nodding, he removed his hand from the back of his neck as Walter inspected it.

He suddenly felt a finger poke at the attachment point.

"Feel that?" he asked, to which Clyde nodded.

"It seems to be fused to one of the bones in your neck, and the cable looks like it's made of pretty strong material..." he then looked at Clyde with an intense stare.

"...so if you were to tug at this with enough force..."

"It would hurt..." Clyde gulped, to which Walter chuckled somewhat darkly.

"Well, that's putting it lightly." he finished, then ran his thumb over his neck in a slitting motion.

"...Right. So... not recommended..."

"Alright kids, I'm back-" a new voice entered, startling Clyde.

"What- who are you?! Where'd you come from?!"

"Whoa, relax, kiddo." the newcomer raised his hands in defense.

"Don't worry, Clyde. Qrow is a good guy!" his sister assured, coming down to her brother's side.

Clyde looked at his sister, his two companions, who nodded, and finally, this "Qrow" his sister called.

Looking at his clothes, he asked the first thing that came to mind.

"You're a Huntsman, aren't you?"

Qrow just shrugged in response, then his eyes widened upon seeing the back of Clyde's neck.

"Hey, kiddo, why do you have that?"

Clyde looked confused.

"Have what?"

" _That_. Why do you have a Bio-Hose connected to your neck?"

Clyde felt the cable on his neck.

"You mean this...?"

"Yes. And your mech is inactive, why aren't you unplugging it?"

"It's... kind of fused to my neck, so-"

"No, no, I know that part. I'm saying why aren't you disconnecting it from the attachment point?"

"I didn't even know I had this until a minute ago. How do you unplug it?" he asked, feeling around the tip.

"I got it." Walter said, carefully grabbing hold of the end with one hand, and unlatched the cable with the other.

Upon unlatching, the cable retracted back into the cockpit.

"Cool." Cliff commented.

"You called this a 'Bio-Hose', right? What do you know about it?" Clyde asked Qrow.

"Let's sit down by the fire, first. I got some meat for us to cook." he said, lifting up a bag he had in his right hand.

The five then gathered around the campfire.

Cliff and Lumina started placing the meat on some skewers that were in the bag. As they cooked, they listened to Qrow as he explained about the Bio-Hose.

"The Bio-Hose is a special custom attachment for Real Robots. It enhances the overall performance of the unit by pumping the information needed to the pilot."

"Sounds like a knockoff Alaya-Vijyana." Cliff commented.

"However," Qrow continued " All of that is in exchange for the pilot's bodily fluids. Blood, and the like. It basically turns the pilot into a living power source."

Upon hearing that, Clyde clutched protectively at the piece of metal attached to his neck.

"But it was branded as illegal ten years ago, right?" Walter asked, to which Qrow nodded.

"Yup. It was way too dangerous to keep around and too expensive to try and improve upon, so it was cancelled, and branded as illegal in Vale, where the technology never left."

"Never left?" Lumina tilted her head in curiosity.

"The Bio-Hose was invented in Vale to try and improve a pilot's ability. Of course, the council didn't approve of it, and the handful of units imbued with the technology were shelved, never to be used again."

"But what was it doing inside a Beowolf?" Cliff asked, to which Qrow just shrugged.

"Beats me. Grimm units were around _way_ before the Bio-Hose was invented."

"Why does _Clyde_ have an attachment point?" Walter asked.

They all looked at the person in question.

"D-don't look at me like that. I'm just as confused as you guys are. I can assure you guys I didn't have it before."

"Hm." Cliff nodded "As far as I could remember, he never had it until now."

"Can you think of anything that might have something to do with it?" the Huntsman asked.

Clyde looked down, deep in thought. What _did_ happen in that short amount of time?

He tried to remember as much as he could, but he can't recall anything that might be helpful to the situation.

"Um... what about when he was screaming before he wiped out the Grimm?" his sister piped in, gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh, yeah!" Cliff remembered "He was screaming bloody murder right before he let out that wave."

"I... was?"

"Yeah. To be honest, you really freaked us out. It really sounded you were in _a lot_ of pain back there. Then after a while you sounded kinda possessed, then let out that wave."

"I see, but... I don't remember any of that. Sorry."

"Interesting." Qrow chimed in "So you wiped out hordes of Grimm, reduced a mountain to rubble, and you can't remember _any_ of that?"

Clyde just shook his head. The Huntsman sighed.

"Well, I got good news and bad news for you guys. The good news is, I think I know someone who can help you kiddos. Bad news is, we have to go inside the kingdom. You and your Grimm units stick out like a sore thumb."

"Can't we just leave them here?" Walter asked.

"Nope. We need to have these units studied. Why do you think I was on the border?"

"Keeping guard?"

"Well, that too. But I also need to get my hands on some Grimm units. They've been getting slippery lately, and I gotta round up a bunch of em for study. So I'll make it my job to get you and your units to Vale safe and sound!" Qrow finished with utmost confidence, wrapping an arm around Clyde.

"Let go." Clyde said.

"Sorry, kiddo, need to keep a close eye on you!"

"You smell like cheap booze."

"And I plan to keep it that way!"

It went on like this for a good five minutes, with Qrow playing octopus while Clyde did his best to move away from the guy smelling like cheap alcohol, but to no avail.

They only stopped when Lumina cleared her throat in a very loud and obnoxious manner.

"So," she started "are you guys gonna eat or are we gonna eat all of this meat ourselves?" she finished, holding up one of the skewers with the cooked meat, waving it in front of them.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds, before separating and heading towards the campfire.

They ate in relative silence, content with enjoying the food. It wasn't great, but having not eaten anything for a while they weren't picky. Qrow also brought a few bottles of water, which the group drank greedily. Clyde decided to pocket a couple bottles just in case.

They just sat around the warmth of the campfire for a few minutes, before Clyde spoke up.

"So... what's the plan?"

Qrow, who was drinking from a flask he took from his hip, turned to him, paused mid-drink.

"Well," he wiped his mouth "I _do_ have one plan, but you need to hear me out."

Everyone gathered, intent on listening.

"I'm going to capture you guys."

In an instant, Clyde spread his arm out, keeping his sister back.

"I knew it!"

"Calm down-"

"This was your plan all along, isn't it?!"

"Kid, _listen_ -"

"Did you also put something in the meat?! Were you trying to drug us?!"

 **"Kid, calm down and listen to me!!"**

Clyde kept quiet, but maintained his glare.

"Look, I _said_ hear me out, so _please_ do before you decide to chew me out. Let me finish first, _then_ you can yell at me as much as you want. Sound good?"

"... Fine."

"Good," he nodded "what I meant by that is to make it look like I captured a bunch of Grimm to study. That way, it'll attract less suspicion. The last thing we want right now is the Grimm to be attracted to a bunch of panicking civilians. This way, they'll feel more relaxed, knowing that your units have been subdued and won't be a threat.

Also, once we make it to my boss, you guys are free to get off, I already called my boss in the time you were unconscious, and gave you approval, so you're in the clear for the moment. The worst to expect is that you'll be examined for any abnormalities.

Although, I need to make an update about your Bio-Hose in a moment. Any questions?"

"When do we leave?" Lumina asked.

"As soon as we can. I'm just gonna give an update on your situation, but after that we can leave whenever you're ready. Anything else?"

No one spoke up this time.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few. Let me know when you're ready." the Huntsman finished, before walking off and pulling out his scroll.

"So..." Clyde started awkwardly " I noticed you guys didn't react in any sort of way when I freaked out. Might I know why?"

"Your sister pretty much reacted the same way when she found out Qrow was a Huntsman. " Walter answered, walking back to his unit.

"You guys aren't gonna ask about it?"

"Nah." Cliff waved off "I kinda thought it might be too personal, so I didn't wanna bring up anything sensitive."

"And couldn't bring myself to give a damn about your past." Walter yelled, climbing into his cockpit.

They stared at the spectacled pilot, before Clyde sighed, shaking his head.

"By the way, Lumina..."

"...Yeah?"

"How long was I out?"

 **-LINE BREAK-**

"Amazing results!" a scientist breathed out in amazement as he looked at the stats being displayed onscreen. While in a separate room, a boy took off a helmet used for simulations as he exited, and went to talk to the scientist in the room.

"So, Doc," the boy started, fixing his spiky red hair "how is it?"

The scientist looked towards the boy.

"Simply breathtaking!!! To think you had this potential in you, Mr. Drake!!!"

"Ugh, Doc, I told you to call me 'Draco'! Or my first name, just not my surname, makes me feel old..."

"Of course, apologies Mr. Crimson."

"Ehh, it's fine! So, how is it?"

"Your operation skills are top-notch. As for the unit, however, still needs a little fine-tuning. But if course, that's expected of a Super Robot."

"Cool," Crimson commented "so we're all good for now?"

"Yes. All of the data has been recorded in the simulator, so we can make the necessary adjustments."

"Awesome!"

"Hey, Draco!" a brown-haired girl poked her head through the doorway "Vlad and I are gonna get some dimsum! You coming?"

"Sure thing! Just about done here, Fen!"

"'Kay!"

"Oh, by the way, sorry Doc, I kinda forgot your name."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It happens a lot. It's Merlot."

 **Aaaand that's about it! Next chapter might also take a while, but I'm not backing down just yet!**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	10. Chapter 9: RWBY

**Hey guys, GaeaChronos here. This chapter took more time than I thought it would.**

 **Anyways, on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter 9: RWBY**

 **Unknown Place, Unknown Time**

In a lab hidden underneath the kingdoms, inside a glass tube filled with liquid floats a girl with stitches and bandages littering her prone form, but the most noticables ones are the bandages wrapped around her throat and eyes. A mask is applied to her face to supply oxygen. The only sound audible in the lab is the beeping coming from the machine the glass tube is attached to.

A man with ginger hair with his bangs over one eye watches the girl intently, concern evident on his green eyes. His hand comes up to caress the glass.

"I figured you'd be here." a voice entered.

The man looked to the source of the voice, finding a black haired woman in a red dress walking towards him, heels clicking against the floor.

"Cinder." he nodded.

"I suppose you know why I'm here?"

"Of course I do." he answered. "Is it that time already?"

"The medical team is on its way."

"A bit fast, don't you think?"

"We found some... willing donors. They're about her age, same blood type, too. What are the odds, huh?"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's your cost?"

Cinder then placed a hand on her chest, as if looking offended.

"Why, Roman, how could you ask such a thing? I'm doing this out of kindness, to _even insinuate_ -"

"Just get on with it." he spat. "I don't have time for your games."

"Killjoy." she pouted. "Fine. Here."

She then handed Roman an envelope, which upon opening, contained plans for a unit, and sheets of paper with various text written on it.

"So, I just need to steal this unit, right?"

"Actually, no. You're supposed to study it. Understand how it performs, and look for flaws in its design. She stated that, and I quote: 'That unit was discontinued for good reason, it won't do either side any good to keep it around. Study it, and find several ways to put it down without triggering its volatile nature.', end quote.

I don't know what it has that actually got her concerned, but after looking at those plans you'll see why."

Roman did as she said, and looked at the plans. After a couple of minutes, he whistled, eyes wide.

"Wow. Talk about ambitious. This seems more of a pain to keep around than to get rid of."

"Well, of course. Development _was_ rushed when it was first made. But what do you think will happen if it was made during this time with modern technology and plenty of time to work out its kinks?"

"That would mean trouble for us." he concluded, folding the plans away into his pocket. "But what are these for?" he held up the notes. They seem to just be a series of letters and numbers and don't form any cohesive words.

"You'll find out. Anyway, I should get going. Need to make sure the medical team doesn't get lost, you know? I'll leave you to look those over." she said, turning to leave.

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"What about this?" he asked, holding up a piece of paper with only one thing written on it:

'b3acon#'

"Oh, sorry. That's mine." she said, grabbing the paper. "It's for _my_ part of the mission."

"... That's Beacon's wifi password, isn't it? And when you mean your part, you're just going to take advantage of their fast internet connection to catch up on your favorite Mistralian Drama-"

 **"I don't tell _you_ how to do _your_ job!"**

Cinder then proceeds to stomp out of the room with a huff, all while Roman looked on, amused.

"I swear. I don't even know why she tries to hide it." he mused, looking over the papers.

"Well, better get to work."

 **-LINE BREAK-**

 **11:00 AM, Vale Docks**

How did it come to this? Weiss thought. One minute, we were fighting a giant outdated unit, and now... _this_.

By 'this', she meant that right now, the two of her teammates were currently frozen in place, being chewed out by the black mech that had just arrived.

"I just _can't_ leave you two for _one night_ , can I?!" the pilot scolded.

"M-Mom, wait. I can explain-" Yang stuttered out.

"Explain, then! Explain how, in a span of a few hours, you managed to wreck the docks, a part of the Robot Path, get into a fight with White Fang, _and_ somehow get a Schnee and Black Fang involved!!"

"Oh, _that's_ what the symbol on her Caitsith was!"

The Black Fang is an organization comprised of former White Fang members who left to look for a more peaceful way of achieving equality.

Backed by the Schnee Dust Company, and various government organizations, their job is to make sure that any issue involving Faunus rights is resolved as peacefully as possible. Because of that, a good chunk of the police force is comprised of Black Fang.

"And as for _you_ ," the pilot pointed her unit at Weiss, "I expected better from a Schnee of all people, but getting caught up in my daughter's messes?!"

Weiss was taken aback. Is she seriously being reprimanded by a total stranger?!

"Now, all of you, get your units in a line, make them kneel, and _apologize_ for this mess!!"

Seriously?! Weiss thought.

"Excuse you-"

"Did I fucking stutter?!" her voice thundered through the comm.

Weiss could hear her partner whimper as she adjusted her unit and prepared it to kneel.

The heiress looked around her team, and found them all gathered in a line with her in the middle.

"W-Weiss..." Ruby squeaked out. " I-I think you should g-get into... position..."

She was about to argue, when she felt the presence of the black unit right beside her.

"I think it's wise to do what she says, Ms. Schnee..."

Yeah, probably a good idea...

She proceeded to get her unit into a kneeling position along her teammates.

"Alright. Now what do we say?"

"Sorry." The four said, well the two sisters squeaked out in fear, while the other two stuttered out.

"Good." the pilot said, her unit nodding. "Now, care to explain?" she asked, all anger seeming to have left her.

They then proceeded to recount the events of the initiation to her.

"Hmm... I see. So, all of you are currently in the middle of initiation right now?"

"Y-Yeah, Mom."

"... Alright. All of you can stand now." she commanded, the four following soon after.

As Ruby got Rosey back into position, she checked on its status.

Oh, man, she thought. She was about to overheat right when I charged at the Paladin. I suppose I need to do something about her parts if that happens again.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Penny.

"Ruby! Warn Raven!!!"

She then looked at the map, her eyes widening upon seeing a second Paladin make its way there.

"Uhh... Aunt Raven...?"

"What is it, Ruby?"

"We got company!"

Raven then proceeded to turn her unit around, spotting the approaching Paladin.

"Ah..." she began, seeming unfazed. "I guess I've kept you all distracted for too long. Sorry about that."

The four quickly went into a formation, but were stopped by a sudden burst of smoke from Bumblebee.

"Agh, no, not again!" Yang screamed.

"What's going on?!" Blake shouted.

"She's overheating!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling out a small blue canister from Rosey's thigh, rushing to her sister's aid. She then cracked the canister and placed it on Bumblebee's back. The canister then exploded, encasing the yellow mech in a sheet of ice. The metal hissed as it made contact with the ice. However, the ice wasn't melting as fast as it normally would, in fact, it seems to react as if it was an ice cube placed on a table, like the unit wasn't hot at all, though the steam says otherwise.

"Phew. That should keep her cool for now."

"Was that... a Permafrost Grenade?" Weiss asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! It was the only thing cold enough to actually cool Bumblebee down! But it was a bit pricey, so I tried reverse-engineering one to make my own. As you can see, it's still not as good as the real deal your company makes, but it'll do for now!"

There was no reply from her partner.

"Umm... Weiss...?"

Still no reply.

Now the redhead was getting worried. She might be in trouble for doing something like this. Well, Yang joked around about her basically 'bootlegging' SDC products, but she didn't think she was doing anything wrong! She didn't even copy the whole thing! It was much less potent, and the quality was not as good as the real deal-

Wait.

Isn't that... what most bootlegs are like...?!

Oh, God, I'm a bootlegger!!! she panicked. Now she'll be mad, then tell her parents, then _they'll_ be mad, and then there will be a lawsuit. Oh, God, a _lawsuit!!!_ Then they'll win, then I'll go to jail, then it'll be all over the news, and _everyone_ will be mad, then I'll ruin my family's reputation, then _they_ will be mad, oh, God, no!!!

"Ruby!" Yang shouted over the comm, snapping her out of it. "Mom said to stand back. This is gonna be a flashy one!"

Quickly understanding what her sister meant, her panic was replaced with excitement as she moved Rosey next to Bumblebee.

"Is she gonna do what I think she's gonna do?"

"Looks like it. We're gonna get front row seats to Mom's RiftBlade!!!"

Barely containing an excited squeal, she ushered her other teammates to their side as Raven's Schwarzflugel placed its hand on a sheath on its hip, the eyes behind its visor glowing a bloody red.

The sheath slowly began to gain a red glow on a long black slot in the center, starting from the end working its way down to the hilt.

The whole unit began to possess a glowing red trim across its body as it pulsed with energy.

The Paladin was coming closer, but Raven held her stance, lowering it, preparing to strike.

The Paladin was approaching faster now, going for the black unit.

Just when it was just about ten meters away, she tightened her grip on the hilt.

"Now!!!"

She then drew her blade, glowing a violent black and red, and made a wide slash in the Paladin's direction. After the motion, it turned around and began to put the blade back into the sheath, as reality seemed to warp behind it, a rift opening up right on the colossal unit. The Paladin, known for its sheer size, was being crumpled into the formed rift as if it were paper. Not just the Paladin, but the remnants of the first one as well, and some of the hundreds of units they took down earlier. For a few seconds, it seemed to suck in everything on front of them, then the next second, it was gone, leaving an empty street where a part of the battle should've taken place.

"Whoa..." Weiss breathed out.

"I know, right?!?!" her partner excitedly answered back.

"That should be all of them." Blake commented.

"How can we be sure?" Yang asked.

"Because she was the one who placed all of those unmanned units in the city in the first place." a familiar voice said from above.

Everyone looked up to find the unit of Glynda Goodwitch floating downward from above them. In its open left hand was Ozpin, looking over them.

"Well done, girls. Quite an impressive display. Your teamwork could use a bit more work, but that's to be expected with newly-formed teams." the grey-haired man commented, sipping on his seemingly ever present mug.

After landing, the stern blonde's unit lowered its hand, and Ozpin got off.

"Alright, Ozpin. Explain." Raven said, confusion in her voice.

"Of course. But first, why don't we get your units checked? From what I saw, it seems that Miss Xiao Long's unit had overheated from using its Semblance too much."

All units turned to the smoking yellow mech kneeling to the side. Its cockpit, also smoking, was now opened, with its pilot sitting atop Rosey's shoulder, which was also kneeling.

Ozpin chuckled at the sight.

I suppose some things remain the same, even in the next generation...

"Let us all get you aboard, shall we?"

 **-LINE BREAK-**

 **12:17 PM, Beacon Hangar**

As they docked their units, they were immediately greeted with a maintenance crew making their way to the worn out mechs.

One in particular, a dark-haired boy with freckles on his face and looked a tad too young for the job, eyed Rosey with an awed expression.

"Wow..." he breathed out.

"Yeah. Isn't she a beauty?" Ruby agreed, popping up beside him, making him jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"

"Uh, no, no, it's fine!" he assured. "Is this... your AK-100?"

"Yeah! My uncle gave that frame to me as a birthday present! I almost immediately started working on it as soon as I found out what it was!"

"Wait... you customized this on your own?"

"Yup!" she nodded. "Signal kind of requires you to design your own mech, so it's not that special."

"But still, the AK-100 is known for being a particularly tricky unit to work with, since it was designed solely for speed and mobility, so armor would actually impede its performance."

"Oh, you have no idea! She took me a whole month just to give it proper armor, while making sure it still moves very fast. But as you can see, I pulled through!"

"Hey, Ruby! Ozpin asked for us a few minutes ago!" Yang yelled at her sister.

"Oh, shoot, I gotta go! I'll see you around, I guess! It was fun talking with you!" And with that, she ran towards her sister, leaving the boy to look at the four worn out units before him.

Let's see...

An AK-100, a modified Cast-off Power Frame (in pretty bad shape), a standard issue Caitsith, and what looks like a new model from Atlas...

"Hey, Oscar!" a voice called a few meters away. "We need your technical know-how for this Power Frame, have a look!"

The boy, Oscar, made his way to the overheated mech.

Looks like this is gonna be a long day...

 **12:25 PM, Ozpin's Office**

The two sisters made it to the office, but not without earning a glare from Glynda for being late.

"Sorry." Ruby mumbled out. "I got distracted."

"It is fine." Ozpin assured. "What matters is that you've made it, and now we can begin your evaluation. Glynda, if you'd please?"

Glynda proceeded to turn on a projector showing footage of the initiation.

"Miss Xiao Long, from what I can see here, you over-exerted your unit's engine, causing it to overheat. What do you think could have caused that to happen?"

Yang hummed, placing a hand under her chin.

"If I were to say... it would be activating the Burst Mode right away, and using it right after turning it off without giving Bumblebee a chance to cool down properly."

The older blonde nodded.

"Good. It seems you are at least aware of your unit's limitations."

"Thanks. It was one of the first things we were taught back at Signal when designing our own mechs."

"Now, what do you think you could have done to prevent that from happening?"

"Well... I think it might be me flying it across the city to look for my partner. I was under some pretty intense heat, 'cause I have an energy reserve that stores solar power."

"I see. So, even if your unit is solar powered, why did it seem like there wasn't an effective cooling system on it?"

"That's because it doesn't have one. I admit, I kinda went a bit overboard in designing Bumblebee, and I kinda forgot to add a cooling system to it that's strong enough to handle the heat. I do plan on working on that now."

"Very well. See to it that you follow up on that. It will be very dangerous for you to suddenly overheat in the middle of battle, like earlier."

She then changed the footage, switching to Blake's unit.

"Miss Belladonna," she began "We were pretty sure a _second_ Paladin wasn't listed among the units you were supposed to engage."

"That was a mistake on my part, actually. We accidentally deployed a second one when Weiss was deployed, and we couldn't withdraw it in time. I was supposed to send you a message regarding that, but Yang already found me before I could finish."

"Wait. Pardon me for interrupting," the Schnee cut in "but it was _her_ who sent those units after me?"

"Yes, Miss Schnee, but it was under _our_ supervision. She wasn't allowed to make any sort of move without our permission. And she followed our plan very effectively. Aside from her partner's incessant asking, she has done a good job of remaining hidden."

"But, still..."

"If it makes you feel any better, Miss Schnee, those units were programmed to shut down the moment your entire team is put down. But as you can see, aside from the second Paladin, everything went according to plan."

" _That's_ what concerns me, Ma'am. The fact that a second Paladin got deployed, and none of her allies warned her until it was too late."

"What are you implying?" Blake asked, eyes narrowed.

"Enough." the stern blonde reprimanded. It was not exclaimed, but the intensity in it was enough to quiet everyone in the room, leaving quite a bit of tension in the air.

After a couple minutes of silence, Ozpin spoke up.

"Now, now." he started, his voice breaking the tension. "There's no reason to place doubt upon your team before it even becomes official. Miss Schnee, I understand your insecurities about Miss Belladonna given your family's history with the Faunus, but I can assure you that she is in fact on our side. It would do no good if you antagonize those who are on our side."

Ozpin gave a few seconds for the words to sink in with the heiress. After a while, he then turned to Blake.

"Now, Miss Belladonna, could you explain the situation to your teammates?"

"Yes, sir." the cat Faunus nodded. "I was controlling each unit individually with my Caitsith. What their cameras saw, I saw."

"Is _that_ how you knew Ruby and Weiss were coming?" Yang asked, putting the pieces together, to which her partner nodded.

"But, in order to control them all, I had to disable my unit's Aura abilities temporarily."

"Is _that_ why your Caitsith was at Minimum Performance?" Ruby piped in, surprising everyone with her perceptiveness.

"How could you tell?" Blake asked, surprised. "I made sure to make it look convincing."

Ruby just chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, let's just say if you read and watch stuff about robots as much as I have, you kinda start to notice the little things."

"But," Yang interrupted "how could she control that many units on her own?"

This time, it was Weiss' turn.

"She must have put in basic level controls, the same type you would install into Funnel units. When you think about it like that, it's actually not too complicated."

"Oh, yeah." the blonde said. "Since Funnels have very basic functions at their simplest: move and shoot."

"Exactly." Blake confirmed. "I was using Funnel technology when operating those units. We normally use it for espionage baiting enemy units in hiding so we can easily subdue them. Just multiply that by around twenty and that's what I did."

"And the Paladin...?" Ruby asked.

"Remote operated. Its autopilot is simply set to approach my unit until it was within range of my controller. The same goes for the second."

"I suppose that answers everything, Miss Schnee?" Glynda asked.

"Y-Yes, it does." the heiress answered, looking down.

"Now, Miss Rose." the older woman turned to Ruby. "What do you think could have went wrong with your part if the initiation?"

"Well..." she trailed off. "I think I could've handled quite a few things way better, to be honest. Like, properly explaining my ideas to my teammates, not thinking certain ideas through, but in the end, my goal was to minimize damage to the city while keeping the team safe, and for me, I think I did okay. Not great, and I definitely could do better, but I like to think I succeeded."

Glynda blinked, not expecting this much hindsight from the young girl.

"R... Right. I'm glad to see you looking back on your actions..." she then cleared her throat, composing herself. "Now Miss Schnee, what about you?"

Weiss kept her head down as she bit her lip.

"Miss Schnee?"

"Well... there was this one moment... We were engaged with Blake's units, I wove through them all. But, I was too caught up in what I was doing, I hadn't realized I got seperated from the others. I didn't even notice that one of them was about to fire at me until Ruby threw her knife at it. The first thing I did was... snap at her. And when Blake explained what had happened, I was too stubborn to thank them, or accept I was wrong."

"I see. So, if I'm correct, your pride got in the way of properly communicating with your team, is that right?"

"I-If you put it that way... But, you see, my father is, despite being well-meaning, a _very_ stubborn man.That was one of the things I got from him growing up. My mother _does_ teach me humility, but there are times my father's stubbornness shows through me. I've been working hard to keep myself in check, but..."

"Old habits die hard, right?" Ruby continued for her.

"Yes... that..."

"Heh... kinda like me when I ramble..."

"Communication is key, especially within a team," Glynda lectured. "Without proper communication, your team would not be able to function properly, whether out in the field or in simulations. Now then, I am sure there's plenty needed to be discussed in terms of your shortcomings, but we can tackle them at a later date. Right now, let's discuss some traits we think could be very useful once they have been honed."

All four listened attentively.

"You four, all of you have shown great adaptibility in the battle with the Paladin. Miss Rose, your knowledge about robots have helped in thinking of a strategy against it. Miss Schnee, thinking of a plan of attack once you were provided with information was quite impressive. Considering you two are partners, keep up that sort of teamwork and your team will be a force to be reckoned with."

The two lit up at the praise, Ruby most noticably.

"W-We won't let you down, Ma'am!" the silver-eyed girl exclaimed.

"As for Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long, I also have a few words for the two of you.

Miss Xiao Long, your initiative when it comes to delivering brute force is commendable. Learn to time it properly, and you will become quite a formidable foe in the battlefield."

"Thanks, Ma'am."

"And Miss Belladonna, you have display quite a degree of control in operating more than a hundred units out in the battlefield, yet still maintain good performance on your personal unit."

"Thank you."

"That concludes it for now. Before we officialy form your team, are there any questions?"

Ruby raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Well, I'm just curious as to why Blake is the one helping with our initiation..."

Ozpin chuckled, as if remembering something.

"Ah, yes, of course. You see, Miss Belladonna had already applied for Beacon three months ago, but there weren't enough applicants to form a team with her. She decided on working solo, but once Miss Schnee had sent an application, she agreed to join a new team should there be enough members."

"... Then _we_ came along, right?"

"Correct. Will that be all?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well. Now, we can get to what you have possibly been waiting for."

The four girls nodded expectantly.

"Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. You four have displayed incredible skill in terms of combat, tactics, and teamwork. You have earned your place to train here at Beacon Training Institute. As headmaster, I officially welcome you aboard to our crew, as Team RWBY. Led by..."

The team looked on expectantly. Who among them could have Ozpin chosen to lead? Judging from her earlier display of skill, Blake seemed like an obvious choice.

"...Ruby Rose."

 **-LINE BREAK-**

 **Unknown Place, Unknown Time**

Merlot attentively watched what was being shown in the simulation. From there, three units are being engaged in battle with several mass-produced units. A light blue Real Robot, a blue Super Robot, and a green Real Robot made up this trio.

"Rip them apart, Leap Slasher!" a feminine voice cried from the light blue unit, launching a frisbee-like projectile at the crowd of units. The projectile ripped through the crowd, even making several turns not expected from a throwing projectile.

"Hey, not bad, Fen!" a voice from the Super Robot. "But not as cool as... this!!!"

The unit's chest opened, and began to charge with energy.

 **"Final Beam!!!"**

A beam of light was fired from the chest, incinerating several more.

"Uh-oh. Draco, you missed a spot!" Fen called out, pointing to the several units headed for their green companion.

"Whoops, sorry. Hey, Vlad! Need a hand?"

"No need." The green unit's pilot, Vlad, assured.

His unit deployed several missiles, which split into more missiles, immediately reducing the numbers to a handful.

"Three left, huh?" he said, his unit's forearm deploying three cylindrical prongs, which began to glow with energy.

"Plasma Stakes, ready...!" he declared, charging at one of them.

"One for each of us, sweet!!" Draco exclaimed, pulling out a sword hidden in his unit's back, charging towards another one.

"Keito-ragoken..."

"Showoffs..." Fen grumbled, deploying a simple beam saber-like weapon, charging towards the last one.

Merlot just watched this spectacle before his eyes. All this valuable data...

 **"Jet Magnum!!!"**

 **"Ankensatsu!!!"**

 **"Roche Saber, go!"**

 **Aaand, that's about it! Sorry for taking so long, procrastination, and Gunpla hobbies, are a bitch.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	11. Chapter 10: Return to Civilization

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here. Still beating myself up over the fact that I completely missed the chance to write a Christmas** **, New Year, _and_ Valentine's fic.**

 **Anyways, on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter 10: Return to Civilization**

 **6** **:47 AM, Grimmlands**

Clyde Schwartz was currently inside his Beowolf's cockpit, preparing for departure. The hatch was still open, as the unit still won't power on.

How do you do this? he thought. Everything was working fine before, so why won't it work now?

He had been messing with the various levers and switches for the past hour, but to no avail. For some reason, it still won't start up.

Scratching his head, he leaned back on his seat, accidentally plugging the Bio-Hose back into his neck, startling him.

"Agh! Oh, come on! I just got this off!"

"You okay there, kiddo?" Qrow asked, by the Grimm's feet.

"F-Fine! Just having trouble getting this thing to start up!"

 **"Starting up...** , came a deep voice from the cockpit.

All of a sudden, the Beowolf hummed as the various screens booted up, signifying its activation.

"Whoa! What just happened?" asked a confused Cliff over the comm.

"I... think this thing just got voice activated..." Clyde answered, equally confused.

"Alright," Qrow nodded "I'll be attaching the dummy restraints to you okay? They won't do any damage, just make it look like you're bound."

All four nodding in confirmation, the Huntsman proceeded to open a black crate, revealing a bunch of shackles.

"Where'd they come from?" Clyde asked his sister.

"He asked for them shortly after explaining our situation. They arrived yesterday."

Clyde nodded.

Oh right, he remembered. I was out for two whole days.

"Alright. We're done here."

The older Schwartz looked up to find all four units restrained and chained to the backpack of Qrow's unit.

"Can that thing _even_ carry us?" he asked. The winged grey unit looked durable, sure, but it doesn't look like it could withstand the weight of four whole units.

Qrow just chuckled at him.

"Don't worry, kiddo. This Schwarzflugel is the finest of its kind. Out of all three units, this one is the best." he boasted.

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

Raven felt a chill go down her spine as she walked back to her unit.

"I don't know why, but I'll kick Qrow's ass when he gets back..."

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

"Buckle up, kids. This could get bumpy!" the Huntsman yelled as his unit started up, its red optics flickering on.

As the unit started up, the wings on its back deployed, showing the four quite an impressive wingspan. As if on cue, the restraints started glowing, making the Grimm float a couple inches.

"We're off!"

At that signal, the Schwarzflugel took off, taking great care not to damage the worn out units in tow.

Once they reached a height where the trees looked like green dots only did Qrow slow down.

"Alright. Looks high enough. You kids can rest easy, it's just a few kilometers straight ahead." the Huntsman said over the comm as his unit started moving forward.

"Finally, I can get some sleep!" Cliff said aloud, stretching in his cockpit.

Lumina breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe we can finally run into someone who _won't_ try to kill us on the spot..."

Clyde leaned back in his cockpit. He was honestly surprised how exhausted he was, given he was out for quite a while.

Maybe now, things'll finally look better, he thought as he drifted off.

 **-LINE BREAK-**

 **1:30 PM, Beacon Hangar**

The newly-formed Team RWBY walked their way to their mechs, with Yang dramatically falling to her knees after witnessing the extent of damage her unit has endured. She quickly went to Bumblebee's right forearm, which was set on the floor currently being dismantled. She grabbed one of the armor plates, and started caressing it, all while whispering tearful apologies.

Shaking her head, Ruby made her way to Rosey when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Blake looking at her with a smile, her hand held out in front of her.

"I don't think we've properly greeted. Blake Belladonna."

"O-Oh! Um, Ruby. Ruby Rose." she stammered, shaking the offered hand.

"I look forward to working with you, Leader."

"I, uh... Same here, I guess..."

Nodding, the cat Faunus made her way back to her Caitsith, leaving the two partners.

"So... _you_ were chosen as leader..." Weiss started.

"Yeah... I guess so..."

"I'll be honest, I really didn't expect that."

"Hey, no worries, I kinda expected _Blake_ to be picked, with her experience and all... I didn't really see me getting picked coming, considering how old I am."

"Why? How old are you?"

"Oh. Um, fifteen."

That's so young! Weiss thought. It must have been visible on her face as Ruby answered.

"Yeah. I know. Didn't expect someone _this_ young at Beacon, right?"

"N-No! I was just surprised, that's all."

"Hey. It's fine. People my age are usually still going through simulations."

Ruby then looked to the side, where her unit was, and her eyes widened.

"Wait, no! Don't do it like that! You'll hurt her!" she exclaimed running towards Rosey, startling the worker.

"Ah, sorry!" the worker stammered out. It was the boy from earlier.

"No, no, it's fine! I just really don't feel comfortable with other people touching her. If you don't mind, I'd rather do this myself?" she asked, reaching for the nearby toolbox.

"Oh! Um, sure." he then backed off a few steps.

The boy and Weiss then watched Ruby work on her unit without looking at any blueprint or reference, yet she seems to have the pieces and their placements engraved into her memory. When Rosey was stripped down to the frame, Ruby took out a small notepad, and began writing.

When she was done, she handed the note to the young boy.

"Hey, um..."

"Oh, uhh, Oscar."

"Oscar, do you think you could get me these parts? Looks like I need to get a few replaced."

"Uhh, right! I'll get right on it!" with that, Oscar was off.

Weiss was left watching the young team leader change her unit's oil with expertise. The younger girl had a look of pure concentration on her face as she moved from section to section, making tiny adjustments if needed.

"Alright," Ruby said, wiping the sweat off her brow "Now I'll just wait for Oscar with the parts I need."

She turned to her partner.

"Hey, Weiss, shouldn't you be working on _your_ unit?"

Weiss blinked.

"Oh! O-Of course!" she then reached for her scroll, bringing out the blueprints for her mech. And Weiss immediately regretted taking a look.

It was filled with technical jargon she knew nothing about. What was what? Which went where?

Her confusion must have been apparent, because Ruby took a look at them herself.

"Whoa. That is _complex_." she commented, though her expression betrays her tone.

When the white haired girl observed her partner's expression, it was that of pure awe, her wide silver eyes twinkling in delight at the unit's specs.

"C-Can I...?" she trailed off, slowly reaching for the scroll.

"It's 'May I', but sure, knock yourself out." she corrected, handing her the device.

Ruby squealed in delight, grabbing the scroll, and taking a look at the blueprints.

"So... I take it you're not used to looking at blueprints?" she asked as she looked at the unit's name.

 **"AK-130 'Snowflake'"**

"Go ahead and laugh. I know it's pathetic." Weiss said, looking away.

"No! Nothing like that! Even Yang needs help having her unit maintained most of the time. The only reason I could do something like that is because I memorized my blueprints for a whole month!"

"A whole month? That would have still taken quite a bit of time."

"Yeah. Well... let's just say I had a lot of free time..."

"What do you mean-"

"O-Oh, look! Oscar's back!" she awkwardly cut her off upon seeing the worker wheeling in a cart full of parts.

"Hey. Um, I got the parts you need. Also, Miss Schnee, I got word from your father that your sister will drop by some time today."

"She will?!" Weiss exclaimed excitedly, before calming herself. "I see. Well, thank you for letting me know."

Oscar nodded, and proceeded to help Ruby where he could. But, he could clearly see the silver eyed girl was currently in her own little world as she worked on her unit, almost as if in a trance. Seeing that she might not need his help, he turned to Weiss.

"Is there anything I could to help?"

"Oh! Um, I need some help with this." she handed him the blueprints to her unit.

Oscar looked at the blueprints for a few minutes, and turned back to Weiss.

"Sure. Just give me a moment. I'll call a couple of guys here to help."

Weiss nodded, took the scroll back, and watched as the young boy went off.

After a few minutes of waiting, she saw a navy blue unit dock at the hangar. Ruby seemed to freeze in her tracks as she slowly turned to the unit that had landed.

The cockpit opened, revealing a white haired woman, with her hair tied into a bun and her bangs covering her right eye, and blue eyes.

As she got off, she looked around and smiled at Weiss when she spotted her.

"Winter!" Weiss gently called out as she approached her sister.

"It is good to see you again, Weiss." she greeted as the younger Schnee came in for a hug, which was returned by the older girl.

After breaking from the hug, she looked at her sister's unit.

"Winter, is this...?" she trailed off curiously.

"Oh, that? That's-"

 **"IT'S THE GESPENST!!!"** Two overly excited voices cut in.

The Schnee sisters turned to the source of the voices, and found Ruby and Oscar with wide sparkling eyes.

Clearing her throat, Winter replied with, "Yes, that's what it's called. The Gespenst Type R, to be precise."

Curiously, and excitedly, Ruby circled the mech, eyeing every angle of the Gespenst, with Oscar mirroring her actions.

"This amazing blue paint job..." she started.

"Not to mention the beautiful finish, almost making it seem like it's always shining..." Oscar added.

"With its Plasma Cutter, for melee attacks..."

"The projectile weapon, the Slash Ripper..."

"Topping it off with the super powerful Neutron Beam...!"

"Not to mention its land and air capabilities...!"

" _And_ that's on top of its mobility, which is already greater than the average standard mass-production unit...!!"

"A real masterpiece of a mech!" Both finished in unison.

The Schnee sisters blinked at the two.

"H-Hey, um... Miss... uhh... Winter, was it...?" Ruby asked.

"Yes... what is it...?" Winter trailed off. She knew what was coming. This is hardly the first time this happened.

"M-May I have a look at-"

 ** _THWACK!_**

The silver eyed girl was suddenly hit on the back of her head by Yang, knocking her out instantly. The moment she she got hit, the blonde's arm caught her from underneath.

"Sorry about that." the older sister apologized, and walked off, carrying the limp girl like a package.

"Ow, ow, ow! Alright, alright! I'll get back to work, I promise!" the boy exclaimed while being pulled away by the neck by an older mechanic.

"Sorry about that." the older male apologized and walked off, dragging Oscar along.

"Well then..." the older Schnee started. "I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want to come with?"

"Of course!" Weiss said, clearly excited to spend time with her sister.

With that, the two Schnees were off.

Shortly after they left, Qrow's Schwarzflugel had finally docked itself at Beacon's hangar with the four Grimm in tow. A maintenance crew was already awaiting them, aware of the situation.

They quickly helped get the pilots out of the units, and detached the Bio-Hose from Clyde's neck. Once they were off, they watched as the Grimm units were detached from Qrow's unit.

As soon as the Schwarzflugel was detached from the four units, before Qrow could get off, Raven's unit charged in, tackling the gray unit, sending it out of the hangar and plummeting down a ten thousand kilometer height.

"That's for this morning, Qrow!"

 **"YOU BIIIIIIIIII..."** he screamed until he was out of hearing.

With a satisfied sigh, Raven got off her unit. She was going to get a drink until she saw the four Grimm pilots, and froze.

"Clyde and Lumina Schwartz...?" she pointed at them, one by one.

"Cliff Zwart... and... Walter Black...?"

"Black?" Cliff asked, to which Walter just rolled his eyes.

"That's my _real_ surname."

"How are you four still alive...?" The female Branwen asked, acting like she had seen a ghost.

"What do you mean?" Clyde asked.

"No one would survive something like that."

"Like what?" Lumina asked, clearly confused.

"... The 'Vanishing Trooper' incident."

 **And that's about it, really. I would've uploaded this sooner, but I discovered Sword Art Online: Integral Factor. Between daily quests, new events, level grinding, and Koharu's cuteness, I literally forgot I was working on this. Oh, and I watched the new Ultraman anime, which was awesome BTW, and, well, I finally got around to watching KonoSuba, and ended up watching the entire thing. _And_ I discovered SAO Abridged, which is definitely my favorite abridged series now. So yeah, long story short, I vegged out at home and forgot about writing. Sorry about that.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	12. Chapter 11: Team CCLW, Formed!

**Hey, guys, GaeaChronos here, and I bring you the latest chapter of SRW: Remnant!** **So, also a bit of a heads up:**

 **Our wifi went out, since the one in charge of paying couldn't pay, so I'll be settling for prepaid mobile data while it's out, which is reliable, but not as good as wifi due to data limits. Also, that means no SAO for me for the time being. (I literally raised it to Level 72 in a couple months without stopping, so it's kinda boring not being able to play it recently.)** **And this means that I can only stay online as long as I can pay for my mobile data, and who knows when's the next time I can get the money to pay.**

 **Also, I began to read the Konosuba light novel, and it's taking up a bit of my free time, but not enough that it distracts me from writing. (I already have enough distractions as is :P.)**

 **And finally, speaking of Konosuba, I also started watching the dub, which is probably one of the greatest English dubs in existence.**

 **But enough about me fawning over Konosuba, let's get on with the chapter!!!**

 **Chapter 11: Team CCLW, Formed!**

 **2:00 PM, Beacon Cafeteria**

There was an uncomfortable silence between the four Grimm pilots as they sat at one of the many tables at Beacon's colossal cafeteria. The food they ordered remaining untouched as they looked down on them.

Cliff hesitantly reached towards his fork, only to stop at the last moment and pull back, shaking his head.

Lumina just pushed her food around her plate, a solemn expression on her face.

Walter suddenly decided his glasses were dirty, and proceeded to wipe them down with no signs of stopping, his expression unreadable.

Clyde let out a sigh.

After they were recognized by the woman who introduced herself as Qrow's sister, they immediately asked what she meant by the 'Vanishing Trooper' incident.

"My sister and I were test pilots for the Huckebein." he started, breaking the silence and gaining the three's attention.

"We were in the middle of testing the newly-restored Black Hole Engine at the time. Lumina proposed something, which led her to start her own project based on the plans our father left behind."

"I heard about that." Cliff piped up. "It was something about a machine to inherit the Huckebein name, if I heard correctly?"

"Yeah. There was also a plan for mass-production, though I'm not sure if anything ever came of it."

"What about you, Cliff?" Lumina asked.

"I was... a Grungust test pilot. They were trying out a new model when I was picked to pilot it."

"Hey, now I remember!" Lumina's eyes brightened. "You were the guy who always ends up getting totalled in the simulations, weren't you?!"

"Ah, well... that's..."

"Knew it!"

As the two bickered, Clyde turned to Walter.

"Well... what about you?"

"... I was a pilot for the new model Gespenst at the time. It was a unit that was supposed to contrast another Gespenst unit. And judging from the Gespenst we saw outside, it saw mass-production. Or, at least, it was good enough to be deployed."

"... Walter...? Is that you...?"

The four turned to the source of the voice, revealing a shocked Winter Schnee.

Walter made eye contact, and for the first time, they saw the normally stoic man surprised.

"Winter..."

"It _is_ you! I thought I recognized that mop of grey hair somewhere!"

"Wait... Winter Schnee? _The_ Winter Schnee?! Walter, you know Winter Schnee?!" Cliff shouted, earning him a slap on the mouth from the older teammate.

"Quiet down, will you?" Walter said, slight irritation lacing his voice as he kept his hand on Cliff's face.

"Mmph!! Mmph!!"

Sighing, he released his hand.

"Owie... My perfectly kissable lips..." Cliff muttered, rubbing his mouth, now with a red handprint over it.

"Sorry about that, Winter."

"It's fine. I've seen _worse_ etiquette back in Atlas." she reassured, looking over the group, eyeing each and every one of their faces.

Wait...

"Are they... also...?"

"Yes. They're test pilots, like us."

"But... the 'Vanishing Trooper'..."

"Even _we_ don't get it. How could we have disappeared for two years?"

 **Ozpin's Office**

"You won't believe what my brother here found." Raven Branwen said, a tense expression on her face.

Right now, the Branwens were in Ozpin's office to report what Qrow had found.

"The kids I found in the Grimm... They were all test pilots involved in the 'Vanishing Trooper' incident. To be specific, the ones who went missing two years ago."

Ozpin, upon hearing this, opened his scroll, and opened up a folder labeled : 'CLASSIFIED'.

He attached the handheld device to the projector, and it showed pictures of five people, including detailed descriptions about them. He began to name them one by one.

"Clyde Schwartz, Lumina Schwartz, Cliff Zwart, Walter Black... and Redd Obsidian."

"Obsidian was the only one not with them." Qrow added. "However, all four of them, according to Raven, seemed to be the same as when the 'Vanishing Trooper' incident happened, with the exception of Clyde, who now had a Bio-Hose attached to his neck."

"You _did_ mention that in your updated report, but did you find anything else strange?"

"Well, I couldn't say it earlier, as I wasn't sure if it's true, but apparently, according to his sister, he had wiped out an entire legion of Grimm, created an isolated area that repels Grimm, and reduced a nearby mountain to rubble. He also has no memory of the incident.

And get this: when we were preparing for the trip back here, he unintentionally voice-activated his Beowolf unit."

"I see." Ozpin nodded. Just what happened to these children? he thought. "And where are they now?"

"They're in the cafeteria. They said they were hungry." Raven answered.

"It might not be a good idea to let them go there."

"Why?" Qrow asked, while Raven's eyes widened.

"Shoot! Winter Schnee is in here! She's having lunch with her sister right now!"

"What?! Why's the Ice Queen even here!"

"She came here after a rather lengthy patrol for a quick stop, and to catch up with her sister when she found out today was her initiation." Ozpin said, sipping his coffee.

"Of all the days...!" Qrow stood up, but the still calm headmaster held up his hand.

"As much as I too want to prevent them from running into each other, I am afraid we might be too late." he showed a live security feed of the cafeteria, which showed Winter Schnee chatting with the four.

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

 **Beacon Cafeteria**

"So all of you have no memory of the incident?" Winter asked them.

Clyde shook his head.

"All I remember was an explosion, Lumina screaming, and the rest is just, a haze..."

"Strange..." the Atlesian pilot looked down, deep in thought.

"By the way, why are you here, Winter? Atlas is quite a way from here." Walter asked.

"Well, I had just come back from patrol. It was quite a long one. On the way back, I was chased by a flock of Nevermore. I had to try to outrun them, since I was alone at the time, and the Type R, though reliable in combat, won't be able to take an entire flock alone. I managed to scare them off, but I strayed too far, and ended up crossing Vale's border.

My Gespenst has exhausted too much fuel from running, so I stopped here to resupply before going back. Also..." her eyes widened as if remembering something important.

"Also... what...?" Cliff asked.

All of a sudden, Winter stood up.

"I apologize, I was with my sister, but I left her alone when I saw you. I should check up on her."

"No. Go on ahead. Sorry we took up your time." Walter assured.

And with that, she was off.

"So, that was Winter Schnee..." Clyde commented once she was out of sight.

"What was your relationship with her, Walter?" Cliff asked.

"Remember when I said I was a Gespenst pilot? She was my partner. She piloted the Type R, while I piloted the Type S."

"R and S..." Lumina wondered aloud.

"It stands for 'Rapidity' and 'Strength', respectively. Though they _are_ pretty much identical, they do have one difference. The Neutron Beam for the Type R is a handheld ranged weapon, while the Type S has it built into its chest."

"Kinda like the Grungust's Maxiblaster..." Cliff commented.

"Maxiblaster? I thought it was called the Final Beam..." the younger Schwartz asked, confused.

"Ah, right. You guys saw the Type 1 in action. I piloted the Grungust Type 2."

Clyde looked at them talking about their test pilot days with a small smile on his face. Then, all of a sudden, he felt a tingling at the back of his neck.

"Do you guys... feel that...?" he asked them.

"Feel what?" his sister asked, oblivious.

"Like... something's coming..." Clyde couldn't quite put his finger on what he was feeling. It was familiar. At least, he thought it was.

All of a sudden, Beacon's alarm went off.

 **Grimm presence approaching! Prepare for deployment!**

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

 **Beacon Hangar**

"As if the timing couldn't get any worse...!" Winter Schnee muttered as she rushed to her unit.

She had just explained what happened to her sister when the alarm went off. Of course, she made sure to leave out any sensitive information.

As she jumped into the cockpit, she grabbed her helmet, quickly put it on, and started up the Gespenst.

"Um, Miss Schnee!" the young mechanic from earlier called out to her before she could shut the hatch.

"What is it?"

"We finished refueling and repairs on your unit as best as we could, right now it's at 85%! Also, we equipped it with an M95 Machine Gun and Split Missiles for this occasion! You should be able to take them on without issues!"

"Alright. Thank you!" With that, the hatch was shut, and the navy blue unit was put into position for launching.

Several mechanics quickly wheeled several equipment and parts out of the way as the hangar door opened.

She readied her unit, adjusting her thrusters.

"Specialist Schnee, you are clear!" a voice she recognized as the older worker who apologized earlier said through the comm.

"Roger. Winter Schnee, Gespenst Type R. Launch!!!"

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

The four Grimm pilots ran to the hangar as best as they could. On the way they saw Winter's Gespenst launch out into the battlefield.

Cliff whistled.

"Ah. There she goes..."

Looking around, Clyde spotted Raven on her way to her Schwarzflugel.

"Hey. Um, Raven, right?"

A nod.

"What's going on?"

"You deaf? You heard the alarm. Grimm are attacking, and we're taking defensive action."

"Grimm? Attacking this school?"

"We're not exactly invisible to radars, kid. These things happen. Sometimes, the security system handles it. And on other times, units may need to be called out to intercept."

"Is there anything we could do?"

"Kid, it'd be best for you four to stay here. Don't want any unintentional friendly fire in a fight against Grimm now, do we?"

"I... suppose that makes sense..." He looked down. To be fair, it _would_ cause unwarranted confusion if they saw Grimm attacking one of their own.

"Yes, it would be problematic now, wouldn't it?" a voice entered.

The five turned to see Ozpin approaching them, Glynda following behind.

"Ozpin!" Raven gasped. Shouldn't he be giving commands right now?

"At ease, Raven. Everything is under control. Besides, I will not take long."

He then turned to the four pilots.

"You want to help in this battle, don't you?"

"Well..." Cliff trailed off.

"Of course!" The Schwartz siblings answered.

"Do we have a choice?" Walter asked, adjusting his glasses. "Just take a look around. Looks like most of your best units are either deployed somewhere else, or under repair. I'm guessing one Gespenst isn't enough to take down the Grimm outside?"

The headmaster chuckled.

"You were always the perceptive one, Mr. Black."

"Well? Spill."

"I'm assuming you are unaware, but the Huckebein Series is currently being restored as we speak. Two units are currently 90% completed, but are still undergoing testing."

Clyde was surprised. They still continued the project despite what had happened. Wait... _Series?_

"You said Series... You mean..."

"You catch on rather quick, Mr. Schwartz. Your sister's proposal was approved a year ago. Although granted, the main unit's still unfinished, but we managed to complete four units, and they're ready for deployment."

"My proposal...!" Lumina's eyes were wide and sparkling.

"Well, then. Shall we see what they look like?"

"... Alright." The older Schwartz replied.

"Very well. Follow me."

Ozpin led them to a secluded part of the hangar, where four units lay covered.

As the mechanics quickly unveiled them, the four marvelled at the sight.

"It's just like the blueprints...!" Lumina gasped.

"So, this baby'll see mass production, right? Sweet." Cliff had a wide grin as he said this.

"I admit. This is impressive." Walter said with wide eyes.

"These armaments..." Clyde turned to the workers preparing the weapons.

Ozpin handed him his scroll.

"Curious?" He smiled.

Taking the scroll, he read the specifications of each armament, with the three reading along behind him.

"Boost Hammer, huh? Sounds like an awesome weapon." Cliff commented.

"The Chakram Caster is added here, too? I can't believe the weapon got deployed before the unit." Lumina pouted.

"It can also use the Slash Ripper? This unit is quite versatile." Walter added.

"So, what's the catch?" Clyde asked once he finished reading the blueprints. "There's no way you'd just hand these over to us without some kind of catch."

"It's quite simple, really." Ozpin smiled at them. "I just need you to become Beacon students."

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

 **Outside**

"Split Missiles, launch!" Winter shouted as she fired them from the back of the Gespenst. Once reaching a certain distance, both projectiles opened up to reveal several smaller missiles inside, which launched towards the Grimm, blowing several up.

"As expected of a Schnee..." Raven muttered as she destroyed two Nevermores with a single swipe of her blade.

The other Schwarzflugel unit was also there, taking out several Grimm with wide swings of its large sword.

"Ha!" Qrow yelled from inside the cockpit. "That makes twenty-three! How's that, Ice Queen?!"

... Really? Raven deadpanned in her mind. He's choosing _now_ to compete with her? Well, if it kills Grimm, then...

She then heard gunfire behind her. Turning, she saw Rosey gunning down some enemies from inside the hangar.

"Got your back, Aunt Raven!" She assured.

Raven smiled. Despite Rosey's limitations, such as being a ground type unit, Ruby still manages to make full use of her.

Looking to her left, she saw Bumblebee taking down several units with its gun arms.

Gonna have to thank Ruby for adding that later, she thought.

To her right, surprisingly, Blake's Caitsith was also deployed. It had a small flight pack attached to it, allowing it to fight in the air.

She couldn't find the younger Schnee anywhere, however. Perhaps her unit was more damaged than it looked?

Her question was answered when she saw three Nevermores suddenly impaled on a large ice shard.

Turning back to the hangar, she saw the Schnee's unit standing behind Rosey.

Focusing back on the battle, she made quick work of the several aerial Grimm.

The units are all doing a good job at guarding the school from the swarm of Grimm.

However, the numbers were just far too big.

"Why are there so many of them?!" Yang cried in frustration as she crushed a Nevermore's head between Bumblebee's fists.

"Yang, I'm almost out of thrust!" Blake cried as she maneuvered her Caitsith to retreat. However, the Grimm had other plans.

"Blake, look out!"

All of a sudden, her Caitsith's left arm was ripped off with tremendous force, sending her tumbling forward.

"Gah!!" The cat Faunus cried as she was shaken around in her cockpit.

"Blake!!" Yang cried out, rushing to her partner's aid.

"I'm fine!" Blake reassured "Just a bit dizzy, that's all!"

"You kids alright?" Qrow approached them.

"Yeah. Looks like it." Blake panted.

"You should probably go back inside to get that fixed quickly. We'll hold 'em off." He said as he made a wide swing, cutting down several Grimm in the process.

"Come on, Blake." Yang gently pushed her in the direction of the hangar.

"I can still fight...!"

"Yeah, _you_ can, but your unit is damaged, and I believe you mentioned something about running out of thrust?"

"But-"

"No buts. Now come on, let's get you fixed up. I need to get Bumblebee reloaded too."

And with that, the two partners flew back inside, leaving the three adults to handle the Grimm.

"Looks like it's just us three out here." Raven commented as they gathered.

"To think we'd fight alongside each other again, Branwen. Quite an honor." Winter Schnee smirked.

"Aww, did you miss me that much, Ice Queen?" Qrow mocked.

"I was speaking to your sister."

"..."

"..."

"Anyway," Raven coughed "I'll try to lessen their numbers with the RiftBlade, but I need time to charge."

"So we need them gathered into one place, right?" Qrow asked, brandishing the large weapon.

"There's no guarantee this will work, but we'll do our best to gather them." Winter said, drawing the Plasma Cutter.

"Alright, let's do this!" Raven declared, backing her unit off.

And so, the Gespenst and Qrow's Schwarzflugel charged into battle, making sure to lead the Grimm into a single direction.

Raven's Schwarzflugel placed its hand on its hilt, its visor glowing red.

"Come on..."

All of a sudden, one Nevermore charged towards her.

"Shit-!"

 ** _BANG_** ** _!_**

The Grimm was shot down by Rosey, who gave her a thumbs up.

Nodding, she focused on charging the RiftBlade as Qrow and Raven baited the enemy units.

The two units did their best leading the Grimm into Raven's strike zone. Soon enough, most of them were gathered right in front of the Schwarzflugel.

"Raven!!"

"Do it!!"

"Right!" With a cry, she slashed, the Grimm getting sucked into the formed rift.

"They did it!" Ruby cheered.

"Uhh, Ruby?!" Weiss tapped Rosey's shoulder.

All five of them stared at the newcomer before them.

"A Queen Lancer..." The younger Schnee muttered.

"That must be what attacked Blake, right...?" her partner asked.

Lancers were problematic types of Grimm. While their weapons take time to reload, and they have weak armor, they more than make up for it with mobility and numbers. Their signature weapon, the Wasp Stinger, can be fired at borderline mach speeds, though they take five minutes to reload.

The Queen, however, is different in that it only takes three minutes to reload. Not to mention its much tougher armor compared to a normal Lancer.

"This ain't good." Qrow commented as he went to his sister's side.

"Yeah. And my RiftBlade's done for the day." Raven said, holding up the sword, now a dull shade of grey.

"Got anything that could hurt that thing, Ice Queen?"

"I still have the Neutron Beam, but I'm not sure if that's enough. We may need to weaken its armor for good measure."

As they formulated a plan, the Queen Lancer aimed its stinger at the group.

"Guys! It's finished reloading!" Ruby warned.

"Let's move!" Raven shouted.

"No! If we dodge, it'll hit the hangar! Who knows what damage that could cause!" Winter stepped in.

"Shit...!"

Unsure of their next course of action, they just stood as the Grimm charged its Wasp Stinger, ready to fire.

All of a sudden, the stinger had a beam go through it, disabling the weapon.

The three looked up to find four identical units hovering a fair distance above them.

"Hey, that was some pretty good sniping, Clyde!" One of the pilots said.

"I _did_ pilot a Huckebein, after all." The other pilot said.

One of them approached the Gespenst.

"Sorry for the wait, Winter." Its pilot said.

"Walter? Is that you in there?"

"Surprise!" A female voice shouted over the comm.

The Schnee observed the units, and her eyes widened upon realization.

"Those are the new Huckebein units, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Ozpin asked us to pilot them. So we're here to help. What's the plan?" Clyde asked.

"We need to damage it enough so that the Gespenst can fire its Neutron Beam at its core." Qrow said to the group.

"So, we pry it open to get the good stuff within?" Cliff asked, brandishing what appears to be a giant flail.

"What about the other Grimm?" Lumina asked.

"They're just weak Nevermores. The kids can deal with them." Raven assured, while sending Ruby a message.

"Alright. Where's the core located, anyway?" Clyde asked, preparing his unit.

"Right there. Behind the plate where its legs attach. Careful though, the armor there's pretty tough." Qrow pointed.

"Seems simple enough. But we need to get those legs off first." Lumina aimed.

"Photon Rifle, fire!"

A beam, the same as the one that destroyed the stinger, was fired from the gun. However it just bounced of harmlessly from the Grimm's underside.

"Eh, worth a shot." she shrugged.

"HA! Good one!" A voice came over the comm. It was Yang.

"Yang, that wasn't a pun. How's the reload coming along, anyway?" Raven reprimanded her daughter.

"Bumblebee's almost done, but Blake needs a couple more minutes to fine tune the replacement arm."

"Alright. Can we leave the remaining Grimm to you four?"

"You got it, Hot Mama!"

"... Never call me that again."

"Sorry."

"Winter." Walter started "Do you think we could get rid of those legs?"

"Huh? I could probably get two of them..."

"Good. Same here. Do you think we could do _that_? Just for old times sake?"

" _That_? Then that unit is armed with..."

Walter had a smirk on his face as he said:

"Yeah."

Winter chuckled.

"Alright. On your signal."

"All of you better stand back. We're gonna cut off its legs."

With that, the others stood behind the two pilots.

"Now!" Walter commanded.

 **"Fly, Rippers!!!"**

Both shouted as each unit shot out two disc-like projectiles, which deployed two blades. The Rippers started spinning at great speeds, rushing towards the Grimm, severing four of its legs.

"Two to go! Do it!" Walter shouted.

"Got it!" Lumina and Qrow shouted at the same time.

"Alright, ya bug, let's see if you can take the Schwarzflugel's Colossal Blade!" Qrow declared as he severed the fifth leg.

 **"Take this, Chakram Caster!!!"**

The Huckebein then launched a small, disc-like projectile from its forearm, cutting through the final leg.

"Alright! That's all legs down! C'mon, Clyde, let's finish this!" Cliff declared as he began to swing around the flail.

"Right! I'll break you with this! **Boost Hammer!!** " Clyde declared as both of them slammed the flail-like weapons into the Lancer's underside, crushing the plate and causing it to fall off, revealing a glowing red orb.

"That's the core! Winter, do it!" Walter signalled.

"Right!!" The Gespenst charged in, carrying a large beam cannon.

Once it reached the core, it took aim.

 **"Neutron Beam, fire!!!"**

Then, from the cannon emerged a powerful beam, engulfing the core before causing the Grimm to explode from the heat.

The Gespenst's optics shone a vibrant red as it faced the explosion. Putting away the cannon, it flew back to rejoin the group.

"Impressive." Walter commented.

"I'm more impressed by the fact that your Huckebein has a Slash Ripper."

"It was built in. It surprised me, too."

"Well, all that's left now are the Grimm, right?" Cliff asked.

"No need." Yang said from the hangar "The school's defenses kicked in and got rid of the rest of 'em. The others, my sister and her partner took care of."

"... Guess we'll head back?"

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

 **Beacon Cafeteria**

"Wo~w! I never thought I'd get to see the Gespenst in action! So cool~!"

Ruby Rose had a blissful expression as she said this, hands on both her cheeks.

"Don't sell yourself short, Ruby." Yang said beside her "You and Weiss were pretty good yourselves, providing cover fire for everyone."

"Still, though..."

"She's right, Ruby." Blake said across the table. She was currently being treated by a nurse. When she was attacked, she received a few scratches. "Despite being a ground type unit, you managed to provide effective cover fire against aerial opponents. Unlike me..."

"Blake, you did your best. If anything, it's my fault for not warning you sooner."

"Even then, it wouldn't change anything." Qrow said from behind Yang "A Lancer's Wasp Stinger borders on mach speed. You wouldn't be able to react in time to it."

Blake looked down.

"Still, I apologize."

The blonde groaned.

"Seriously, don't beat yourself up over it. You lived, and that's what's important."

"I... lived?"

"Yeah. You're still here, right? So, you can look back on this and improve on what went wrong. That's what matters."

"... Right. Thanks, Yang."

"Hey, what are partners for, right?"

"Speaking of partners," Ruby cut in "Did any of you see Weiss?"

"She went to see her sister off, kiddo." Qrow answered, taking a swig from his flask.

"By the way, who _were_ those units that helped you? They seemed pretty strong."

"Well, according to Ozpin, they were new enrollees."

 **\- LINE BREAK -**

"Clyde Schwartz, Lumina Schwartz, Cliff Zwart, Walter Black. The four of you have demonstrated what is necessary to be a student at this school. Teamwork, adaptability, and skill. Starting today, you are now to be students of Beacon, where you will continue your pilot training in the next four years.

You four will now be known, as Team CCLW. Led by Clyde Schwartz.

Welcome to Beacon."

 **And that's about it! Ho, was this chapter difficult to write. Did I mention I suck at writing fight scenes, let alone mecha fights? Anyway, I'll see you guys on the next chapter of Digimon Helix.**

 **GaeaChronos is out. Peace!**


	13. Pray for KyoAni

Hey, guys GaeaChronos here. No new chapter, just want to express my grief for the disaster that befell Kyoto Animation's studio. The studio was burned down by an act of arson yesterday. According to the articles I've read, over 30 people have been confirmed dead, and even more have been injured. Fortunately, the perpetrator is already under custody, and the fire has already been put out, so further damage has been prevented. However, apparently it was their storage that burned down. This could result in _years_ of hard work gone to waste. My deepest condolences go to the families of those who have lost their lives in this tragedy. I pray that KyoAni's staff may recover from this. Life is short, and it really pains me to see someone willingly cut others short, no matter the reason. There are very talented minds working at KyoAni, responsible for works such as K-On!, Hyouka, Violet Evergarden, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, and many more.

Let us reach out and help KyoAni in this tough time. From what I heard, Sentai Filmworks has already started a Gofundme to help KyoAni, but the best way is to purchase from their website so that it may directly reach them.

GaeaChronos is out.

Pray for KyoAni!


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